The House Of The Dead
by bhamv
Summary: This is a RE/House of the Dead crossover. Chris, Jill, Leon, and Claire receive a desperate phone call for help, and set off to investigate. Bonus chapter, chapter 11 now up. First ever fic, please R/R
1. A Cry For Help

Disclaimer:  I do not own Resident Evil or House of the Dead.  Resident Evil and all RE characters mentioned here are the property of Capcom.  House of the Dead and all HOTD characters are the property of Sega.  This is a work of crossover fiction designed for entertainment purposes only.  

The House of the Dead

Chapter 1

By Bhamv

A Resident Evil/House of the Dead crossover

Message from the author:  This is basically putting RE characters into the first HOTD game, and possibly seeing how the HOTD would have been like if you had a team of 4 people in the mansion instead of just Rogan and G.  This current chapter is just the intro, and it doesn't have much character development or deviation from the plot of the game itself.  I'm hoping to improve on that in future chapters.  

The story takes place after all the RE games, and a new city has been set up some distance from the original Raccoon City, called New Raccoon City.  All our heroes work as STARS members in the NRPD.  The New Raccoon City idea is not mine, I got it from someplace else, but for the life of me I can't remember where now.  Sorry about that, and I'd love if someone could remind me.    

This is my first ever fanfic, reviews and comments would be greatly appreciated.

*****

The black sedan roared down the street, a massive mansion gradually coming into view before the four passengers inside.  Their expressions were bleak and determined, and every now and then one of them shifted or fidgeted, fingering the handguns in the holsters by their side.  

The driver of the car was Chris Redfield, a member of the STARS team as indicated by the logos on his clothing and equipment.  His knuckles were white on the steering wheel, his eyes on the road with the brow above them furrowed in concentration and thought.  Beside him sat a younger man, Leon Kennedy, dressed in his usual New Raccoon Police Department uniform.  Leon was a stark contrast to the peaceful concentration that Chris showed, his head and eyes darting everywhere, taking in as much information as he could from the scenes outside.  On the backseat sat two women, Jill Valentine and Claire Redfield.  Jill wore a variation of her blue STARS uniform, lightweight and simple, with her pistol already in her hand, lying lightly on her lap and ready for action.  Beside her, Chris' sister Claire wore her favorite pink motorbiking outfit with a sheathed combat knife attached to the shoulder, her hair tied up in her preferred ponytail style.  She chattered non-stop, giving a summary of what they knew so far, and what they would expect.  

"All right, so this morning we got a call from a lady called Sophie.  She works as a researcher for a man called Curien in a lab on the outskirts of town.  On the phone, she said there were zombies breaking free from the labs and attacking the scientists, and that help was desperately needed.  Then the call was cut off."

"This raises all sorts of questions.  Firstly, who's Curien and who does he work for?  If he's working for Umbrella, how could an Umbrella lab so close to New Racoon City escape our notice?"  Leon continued.  

"And supposing Curien's not working for Umbrella, is he working alone?  Is it possible for someone to have the capability to create zombies independently from Umbrella?"  Claire picked up smoothly from Leon's words.  

Chris and Jill exchanged a glance through the rear view mirror.  Leon and Claire were becoming quite the pair, finishing each other's sentences and thoughts often.  And by the way they flirted in the STARS office, it was clear their joint adventures had brought them together romantically.  Chris and Jill had considerable feelings for each other too, and they both knew it, but it was something between only them, simply the occasional smile they gave each other, or a glance every now and then, expressing everything they needed to through their eyes.  

"We'll get answers soon, don't worry."  Chris said, as they rapidly approached the colossal mansion.  Following a turn in the road, the car zoomed parallel to the tall wall surrounding the perimeter of the complex, before a sharp left turn brought them onto the front driveway of the house, giving them their first full view of the mansion and its massive courtyard, with several buildings ringing the perimeter and a stone fountain in the center of the area.  The front door of the mansion was beyond the courtyard and what appeared to be a bridge over a moat.  

To their horror, immediately in front of them was a man in a white outfit, who looked like a scientist or a technician.  He was firmly grasped by what could only be a zombie, dressed in black clothes, with wild hair and grey skin, blood-like ichor oozing out of several open wounds.  The zombie bend down to bite into the scientist, ripping a large piece of flesh out of the bespectacled man's neck, sending a spray of blood shooting out of him and eliciting a loud scream from the wounded throat.  With a snarl, the creature then let the bleeding figure fall and turned towards the approaching vehicle, shuffling slowly towards the STARS members.  

Jill was the first out of the car, her gun raised and ready.  Three shots rang out from her firearm, two hitting the zombie in its left arm and blowing it off at the shoulder, the third striking it in the face and blasting its head to bits in a shower of gore.  As the zombie collapsed, she ran forward to the fallen scientist, hoping to help him.  As she got closer, however, it was clear the wound on his neck was mortal, blood leaking out rapidly, soaking his clothes and pooling around his body.  

The dying man managed to choke out his final words, a scratchy whisper directed in Jill's direction, 'Others are still inside….. save them….'  His hand held a bloodstained photograph that he thrust at Jill before drawing his final breath.  Jill slowly took the picture from the hand of the corpse and turned back to her group, who had gotten out of the car by then.  She looked haunted; as if memories from her past were flooding back… watching people die of brutal attacks from horrible monsters, people she had been unable to save.  So deep was she in her own thoughts she didn't notice another zombie creeping up behind her, holding a makeshift but sharp-looking axe in each hand.  With a low growl, the undead creature lifted its left arm and prepared to bring the blade down on Jill's back.  

"Look out!!"  Chris, Claire, and Leon cried as one, raising their weapons and firing a volley of bullets at the zombie, shredding its rotting flesh and knocking body parts flying, as well as sending its axes soaring backwards and slamming into the brick wall behind it with a shower of sparks.  Jill instinctively ducked, rolled, and ended up with her back to the ground, facing her attacker.  She pointed her gun upwards, emptying her magazine into the zombie.  By the time the thunderous sounds of gunfire had cleared, the entire upper torso of the fiend had been blown away, leaving only its hips and legs to slowly fold and collapse onto the ground.  

Chris walked forward to pull Jill to her feet, helping her dust herself off a bit and handing her a full clip for her gun.  Turning to the other three STARS members, she took a deep breath and spoke.  

"There are still survivors inside the mansion, but we'll have to hurry if they're going to survive for long."  She winced internally as she heard the tremor in her voice.  Now was not the time for weakness, dammit!  

Leon nodded and jogged back to the car, pulling out a large leather case.  Opening it, he pulled out four backpacks, each filled with clips of ammunition.  Tossing one to each of his team members, he remarked, "Good thing we decided to load up.  I guess having to scramble around and search everywhere for ammo back in Racoon City really did teach us something."  Chris nodded and shouldered his bag, making sure the opening on the side was easily accessible when he needed to pull out another clip.  Each of the four gunfighters now had several hundred handgun bullets on them, even close to a thousand.  There was no guarantee they would find more bullets inside the facility, so they had to be prepared.  Leon turned back to the car, pondering fetching some of the heavier artillery.  Surely a shotgun or a magnum would come in useful…

"Help, help!!"  Came a cry from around another corner.  Chris was the first to react this time, setting off on a run towards the source of the plea for assistance, the other three close behind him, all thoughts of further armament forgotten for now.  Rounding the corner of what appeared to be a guardhouse, the foursome were greeted by the sight of two white-uniformed scientists running for their lives from another pair of axe-wielding zombies.  The bloody pursuers were remarkably fast, rapidly gaining on the men, preparing to strike them down with their bloodstained weapons.  

Not hesitating, Chris and Jill raised their weapons and fired at the zombie chasing the scientist on the left, while Leon and Claire opened fire on the zombie on the right.  Hot metal lanced through both undead creatures, driving them back from their prey and finally damaging them enough so that they fell to the dirt ground, dead for the second time.  The scientists gave a grateful glance at their rescuers and shouted, "They're still inside!" pointing at the mansion behind them before scrambling to safety.  

Chris waved his gun at the others, saying, "Come on!" before setting off on a run towards the mansion, followed by Jill, Leon, and Claire.  Exactly the same thought was going through each of their minds, "These zombies move so fast, much faster than any of the zombies we've seen before.  Are they created by an improved T-virus, or even by a different virus?  Or maybe Curien really isn't working for Umbrella?"  

Thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the realization that zombies were closing in on them from all directions, streaming from doors and emerging from around corners.  Indeed, these zombies were much faster than any encountered in Raccoon City or elsewhere, running at them with frightening speed.  There was no longer any time to think, only time to let instinct and training take over, to put all trust in the gun in their hands, and in their teammates.  The horde attacked singly or in groups, trying to bite at the STARS members if they got close enough, emitting low animalistic growls and human-like moans as they charged.  Step by step the team approached the fountain in the center of the courtyard, shooting down zombies whenever they appeared.  

Finally, there was a lull in the attack, and Chris' team was able to look around and re-orient themselves.  Claire was the first to spot the prone person lying before the marble fountain, the figure of a woman dressed in a light brown business suit.  On a hunch, she slowly walked past a low wall towards the woman, softly calling out, "Sophie?"

"Claire, watch out behind you!"  Leon suddenly cried, causing Claire to whirl around.  Behind her, two creatures had leapt from behind the low wall she had just walked past, while a third had seemingly appeared from nowhere ahead of her, surrounding and trapping the stunned girl.  The creatures were dog-like, and yet with wings and far uglier than any dog they had ever seen.  One had black colored skin, the other two red, and their flesh also seemed to hang off their bones like zombies.  With an unworldly screeching, they pounced at Claire with snapping jaws, forcing her to back-pedal while trying to aim her gun at the beasts.  

Leon leapt into action immediately, jumping onto the low wall and firing at the gargoyle behind Claire, covering her back.  Claire managed to raise her gun and fire into the skull of the black gargoyle, sending brains and blood splattering over its dark skin.  Leon and Claire then both aimed their weapons at the surviving creature, which snarled its defiance before being blown to oblivion by fire from twin pistols.  

Claire nodded in thanks at Leon.  There was no time for a speech; they all knew that their lives depended on working together and watching out for each other.  Such was the way of STARS.  Turning back to the woman on the ground, Claire ran forward towards the cowering figure.  From where she was, Claire could see the woman was alive and quivering.  Her light colored hair was matted and unkempt, her suit filthy and torn in several places.  

As she approached, the woman shifted and raised her head fearfully.  Her eyes widened, then an expression of pure joy and relief emerged from her face.  Scrambling to her feet, she cried out in happiness, "STARS!  It's you!"

Jill and the others sighed in relief.  They had found Sophie, and they knew answers were imminent.  Under their combined protection, they could ask her about what was going on, and discuss the rescue of other survivors in the mansion.  Suddenly a high-pitched laugh and flapping sound filled the air of the courtyard, and a dark shadow descended on Sophie before lifting her completely into the air before anyone could react.  Looking up, the STARS team saw a bizarre creature, a combination of man and bat, holding Sophie around her waist with its elongated hindclaws.  Its hide was blacker than night, and it had six limbs – two arm-like foreclaws tipped by three sharp talons on each arm, two leg-like hindclaws with long tentacles suitable for grasping, and two gigantic bat-like wings on its back, flapping rapidly in the air and keeping itself and Sophie aloft.  

"Nobody leaves here… alive!"  Spoke the winged monster, with an artificial-sounding voice, like a high-pitched whine.  With a scream of utter terror from Sophie, the beating of wings increased to a blur, carrying Sophie high into the air and over the mansion.  

"Sophie!!"  Shouted Leon, pointing his gun at the retreating figures but lowered it before firing, afraid of hitting Sophie.  "Dammit!"  He muttered, stomping his foot into the dirt as he watched the monster and his prey fly out of sight over the roof of the building.  

"Hey, she dropped that there!"  Jill said, pointing at the ground where Sophie had lay before.  It was a small notebook, probably held in Sophie's breast pocket.  Scooping it up, Claire flipped through it, spotting sketches of various creatures with names that appeared to come from tarot cards, as well as notes on their abilities and weaknesses.  Showing it to the others, she said, "Hey, this might come in useful."

Chris nodded, "That will definitely help.  Come on, let's go in."  With grim determination, Chris spun and faced the mansion, pausing to size up the task facing him.  Taking a deep breath, he then led his teammates forward, to the house of the dead.  

*****

Thanks for reading this far!  Reviews and comments are greatly welcome!  -Bhamv


	2. Explanations

Disclaimer:  I do not own Resident Evil or House of the Dead. Resident Evil and all RE characters mentioned here are the property of Capcom. House of the Dead and all HOTD characters are the property of Sega. This is a work of crossover fiction designed for entertainment purposes only. 

The House Of The Dead

Chapter 2 – Explanations

By Bhamv

*****

Chris, Jill, Leon, and Claire looked around them once more to get their bearings, and to guard against any further zombie ambushes.  They stood pretty much in the center of the front courtyard, next to a large fountain that seemed to be inoperative at the moment.  Approximately 15 meters away was a stone walkway that bridged the moat separating them and the front entrance of the mansion.  "What kind of mansion needs a moat?"  Jill thought to herself as Chris started towards the bridge.  

Circling around the marble fountain, Chris noticed the stone statue of an angel in the center of the fountain was shattered, its pieces scattered through the murky waters.  Glancing downwards at the green sludge-like water, he noticed bubbles emerging and popping at the surface.  

"That's odd…" Thought Chris, before a green humanoid creature leapt out of the slime at him.  He had a glimpse of blood red eyes and a mouthful of sharp, exposed teeth before he reflexively squeezed the trigger in his hand, shooting the creature through the abdomen and sending it flying back into the fountain water, now being stained red by the monster's blood.  "What the hell was that?!" Yelled Chris and Claire in unison, backing away from the fountain in horror.  It was like a hunter from Raccoon City, but greener and shaped more like a human…

"Man, it seems like nothing is safe around here.  These zombies could be anywhere!  Not to mention what else could be crawling around."  Leon said.  He wanted to say more, but was cut short by another loud cry for help, coming from the direction of the mansion itself.  Glancing at the source of the plea, the STARS team was horrified to see a massive zombie, at least 2 meters tall with bulging musculature, standing on the bridge before the front door and holding a white-uniformed scientist over his head.  The zombie was slowly shuffling towards the railing of the bridge, preparing to throw the helpless man down over the side and to his death.  

Charging forward, Chris raised his pistol and emptied his clip into the chest of the creature, only seeming to stun it slightly and doing nothing to halt its approach towards the edge of the bridge.  Cursing under his breath, he reached behind him into his backpack to pull out another clip while releasing the spent one from his gun, reloading in a smooth practiced motion.  His next volley of bullets was joined by those of his teammates, collectively blowing a massive hole right through the chest of the zombie.  The creature looked down at the gap in his torso, seemingly confused, before deciding to bow to the inevitable and crumpled, dead.  

The scientist hurriedly freed himself from the grasp of the dead-again zombie, thanking the STARS team profusely.  "Thank you, oh thank you so much.  You've saved my life!  I was almost thrown into the sewer system under the bridge there…"

Leon looked down the side of the bridge, a drop of at least 30 feet onto a stone surface, and shuddered.  "Yeah, I guess you were.  Listen, can you tell us what in God's name is going on here?"  

"Yeah, I'll tell you what I can, sure."  The man answered, leaning against the railings to regain his breath and to recover the feeling in his legs after the fright he just suffered.  

"My name's Sebastian, Sebastian Steinfeld, I worked as a researcher here in this mansion.  Well, it looks like a mansion, but it's actually a big laboratory, researching the reanimation of corpses with biotechnology.  The guy who started all the research is called Curien, in fact he's the one who's in charge of all the major projects.  He's also the one who came up with all the funds needed.  We don't actually know if that's his first name, or his last, or what.  We just know him as Curien, and it's all his fault this is happening…"  Sebastian had to pause to regain his composure as he remembered just what had been going on in the labs.  

"Take it easy, just tell us slowly.  Do you know if Curien has anything to do with Umbrella Corporation?"  Claire said, her voice calm and soothing.  

"Umbrella Corporation?  No, I'm pretty sure we didn't have anything to do with them.  I've never heard of them, and we all knew how much Curien hated big companies and stuff.  Said they were evil, and he wanted nothing to do with them."  Sebastian said, shaking his head slowly.  

The STARS team glanced at each other.  Not associated with Umbrella?  A whole new sect of zombies to deal with?  The four sighed softly and shook their heads.  This was not good.  

Sebastian didn't seem to notice the dejection his words were causing, and continued.  "Anyway, earlier this morning, Curien suddenly walked into the labs and used his top-level ID to open all the cells and tanks we were holding the zombies in.  Just set them free.  He was shouting something about the time has come, and that it was time for his creations to take over the world.  It was crazy talk, but… but… he didn't look crazy.  He just looked like he usually did, like he had been planning this from the beginning.  Like he wanted all the zombies to kill everyone in the building…"  Sebastian had to pause again, tears slowly rolling down his cheeks as he remembered.  

"Well, we had to stop him.  The zombies were gonna kill us all if they got to us, that's how they are.  And maybe Curien really did want to kill us, to make sure no one stopped him.  Most of the researchers got out, we have emergency escape routes and all that.  But some of us stayed back to try to stop the zombies if we could.  We didn't count on there being so many of them, and that they would be so… so deadly."  Sebastian sighed.  

"What about Sophie, where does she fit into all this?"  Jill asked.  

"Sophie?  Sophie's Curien's personal assistant, but even she didn't know he was about to do this.  When the monsters got free, it was Sophie who got things together.  She gave instructions, and led the guys who stayed back in destroying the creatures, telling us what to do.  Later, when we realized we weren't going to be able to hold them, she told us to get out while she phoned for help.  I guess she made it, didn't she, cause you guys are here."  Sebastian perked up a bit, looking around him for Sophie.  No one had the heart to tell him she had been carried back into the mansion by a giant flying monster.  

Chris raised his gun and said, "All right, we're going to go in and look for other survivors.  Is there anything else you can tell us that will help us?"  

"Yeah, yeah, I can tell you this… Most of the zombies you see, their weak points are their heads.  Destroy their head, and you should be able to stop them."  Sebastian said, nodding.  "You see, they're animated by a kind of bio-chip we put in their brains.  If you destroy that chip, or destroy the brain holding the chip, then they can't function."

"So we have to go through the whole mansion, blowing the heads off every zombie in there?"  Leon asked, his expression showed his doubt that they could accomplish that.  

"No, no, you won't have to do that.  The bio-chips are controlled by a central computer via remote signal, and the computer's located in the innermost labs of the mansion.  If you can destroy or disable that computer, the zombies won't have any means of control, and they'll die on their own.  That particular lab's gonna be pretty hard to get to though, and I don't know if Curien's put any guards in that lab itself."  Sebastian explained.  

Chris nodded.  "Thanks, Sebastian.  You should get out of here now; we'll take it from here.  Can you make your way out?"  

Sebastian nodded.  "Yeah, there's a safe house near here, that's where most of the guys will have gone to.  It's fortified specifically for this kind of thing.  Thanks, guys, you're real lifesavers."  With a grateful nod and a wave, he set off on a run down the path, soon disappearing around the corner of the guardhouse.  

Chris turned to his STARS team.  "All right, here's the plan.  We go through the mansion and find the lab holding the central computer, and destroy it.  We also try to find any survivors and get them out.  Remember, these zombies aren't from Umbrella, they're completely different.  So forget about what it's been like fighting Umbrella zombies.  These guys are faster, smarter, and meaner.  It's a whole new way of fighting now."  The other three nodded.  

Chris continued, "We'd better split up, we'll have a better chance of finding the computer lab that way.  Leon, Claire, you two head up through the main entrance of the mansion.  Jill and I will go through the sewers to get into the labs, ok?"  

"All right.  Good luck, guys."  Claire and Leon said, turning towards the large wooden front door of the mansion.  Chris and Jill circled around the side of the moat until they found a set of stone stairs leading down to the walkway beside the moat, approaching an archway leading to the sewer system.  Looking up at his sister and his colleague on the bridge above him, Chris gave one final salute before ducking through the archway with Jill, into the zombie-ridden darkness.  The last thing he heard before Leon and Claire were out of earshot was Claire saying, 'Well, at least we won't encounter Tyrants or Nemesis…"  

*****

Thanks for reading this far again!  Comments and reviews would be greatly appreciated! -Bhamv


	3. A First Taste Of The House

Disclaimer:  I do not own Resident Evil or House of the Dead. Resident Evil and all RE characters mentioned here are the property of Capcom. House of the Dead and all HOTD characters are the property of Sega. This is a work of crossover fiction designed for entertainment purposes only. 

The House Of The Dead

Chapter 3 – A first taste of the house

By Bhamv

Message from the author:  This chapter is a bit more graphic and has a bit more gore than the previous two.  Nothing extreme, but I thought you might want a bit of warning.  Also, I'll mainly be focusing on Leon and Claire in this story (like in this chapter).  Why?  RE2 is the only Resident Evil game I've played, so I know Leon and Claire the best, and tried to write them more like the game characters in terms of personality and mannerisms.  

*****

Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield walked up to the large, ornate oak doors of the mansion lab, pistols held ready in their hands.  Testing the knob, Leon found the doors locked, and backed up two steps before raising his booted foot and smashing it into the doorway.  The wood of the entrance crumpled under his kick and flew open inwards, revealing the entrance hall of the mansion to the duo.  

The entry hall was very large, and had a grand, lavish look to it.  A set of carpeted staircases rose on either side of the building to the wooden balcony opposite the front entrance, although the staircase on the right side of the room had collapsed partly.  The balcony seemed to lead to a set of doors made of wood, opened wide and leading further into the mansion.  Under the balcony were another set of wooden doors, battered and broken in places but firmly shut.  The atmosphere of the lobby was one of desolation and despair despite the lush decor, bloodstains splattered over the walls and tiled floor.  The stench of death and rotting flesh permeated the air.  Large crates and barrels, presumably originally containing research equipment, were scattered over the place, some piled in awkward heaps, suggesting the brave survivors of the mansion had tried to barricade the doors against the bloodthirsty undead.  At the center of the high ceiling a large gold-and-crystal chandelier hung, and two bloody, screeching monkeys hung from the lighting fixture.  

Leon did a double take at the ceiling… monkeys???

Beside him, Claire gasped and backed up a few steps, staring at the creatures swinging from the chandelier.  They were simian in shape, and gave monkey-like screams, but they were quite large and strong looking.  Their fur was white and stained with bright red blood in places, and their bared teeth and fangs certainly looked very threatening.  The old chandelier creaked under the strain of the two creatures swinging back and forth, and with one final groan of protest the hinges came loose, sending the chandelier crashing down to the floor of the entry hall.  With a deafening shriek, the mutant apes leapt aside right before impact and hurled themselves at Leon and Claire, murderous intent in their eyes.  

Dodging to either side, the STARS pair sidestepped the flying attack, causing both chimps to miss their target.  One monkey ended up flying out the front door and tumbled down the staircase outside, somersaulting over the stone steps, while the other slammed against the concrete wall of the lobby with a sickening crunching sound.  Both creatures collapsed to the floor, squeaking pitifully before falling silent and unmoving.  

Leon and Claire looked at each other with grim amusement.  "Not very durable, are they?"  Claire quipped, a trace of a smile curling the edge of her lip.  

Leon chuckled and scratched his blonde hair with the barrel of his gun, "Not at all.  I wasn't expecting things other than zombies, but if this is the standard of bio-engineering we're gonna be going up against, I think this mission is going to be really eas…"  

He was cut short by a blood-curdling scream, coming from balcony above, atop the staircase.  Glancing at Leon, Claire led the way up the left hand staircase with her partner close behind her.  Atop the balcony was a female researcher sitting on the floor, desperately scooting backwards from two snarling zombies walking towards her.  Taking one look at the situation, Claire made a decision, and shouted to Leon, "I'll get the zombies' attention, you go get her to safety!"

Leon turned his gaze to her briefly before nodding and holstering his gun, freeing up both his hands in case he needed them.  Clearly they had to save ammunition when they could, something they had learnt the hard way in Raccoon City.  Claire waved her arms around above her head, shouting, "Hey, hey look over here you smelly pieces of rotting meat!  Come get me!"  The zombie closer to Leon and Claire turned his head towards them, before changing his trajectory to start shuffling at the duo.  This opened up a gap between the zombies, a space wide enough for Leon to take advantage of.  

"Leon, now!"  Claire shouted, backing away from the zombie approaching her, keeping her wide eyes on the walking dead.  Leon dashed beyond the zombie and ran to the researcher, arms outstretched to pull her away from the creature and to safety as soon as he could reach.  

Suddenly though, both zombies lowered their heads and charged, one at the woman on the floor and the other at Claire.  Their rotting legs threw tiny chunks of flesh everywhere as they flailed with surprising efficiency, closing the distance to their targets frighteningly quickly.  The one attacking the researcher reached its target first, reaching down with one decaying hand to grab the woman by her shoulder, sinking sharp bony fingers into her flesh and eliciting a loud scream of agony, blood quickly staining her white uniform crimson.  Lifting the woman by her impaled shoulder on to her feet, the zombie growled loudly and raked his other hand diagonally across her chest, sending blood spraying all over its own torso and arms.  The researcher gave one final cry of pain before slumping in the arms of the zombie, dead.  

"Dammit!"  Claire and Leon cried in unison, Leon drawing his gun while Claire raised hers.  However, while Claire was watching the technician being murdered she failed to pay attention to the zombie approaching her.  By the time she turned back, it was already within arms length, and had raised one hand in a lightning-fast attack.  Cursing silently to herself, she dodged to her right, trying to avoid the bony fingers, but was too slow by a fraction of an inch.  The zombie managed to rake his hand along the outside of Claire's forearm, cutting two long gouges in her skin.  

"Oww!"  Claire yelled, before back-pedalling to avoid a follow-up attack and raising her gun at the zombie's head.  Aiming carefully and firing once, she hit the monster's cheek, knocking the head off its shoulders completely, sending the festering cranium spinning into the air.  Ichor gushed out of the zombie's ruined neck, before the undead creature collapsed to the floor, its missing head dropping down onto the floor beside its corpse, bouncing once.  

Leon raised his own gun against the other zombie, firing his first shot into the knee of the creature, the bullet shattering part of its leg before continuing to travel on and reduce a wooden crate behind the zombie to splinters.  The reanimated corpse lost its balance and fell face-first onto the floor of the balcony while Leon took careful aim, firing a second shot into the back of the zombie's skull.  The creature twitched once, twice, before lying completely still.  

"Claire!"  Leon said, rushing to her side while pulling a first-aid kit from his bag.  "Damn, are you ok?"  

"I'll be fine, it's not a deep wound."  Claire answered as Leon started to gently wrap bandages around her wounded arm.  She glanced at the former scientist, lying crumpled on the floor.  "Is she… is she…"

Leon nodded grimly, "Yeah… she's dead."  Claire lowered her head and sighed softly.  Finishing his treatment of her arm, Leon put away his first-aid kit and walked to the body of the scientist, inspecting her nametag.  One half had been ripped away by the fatal blow from the zombie, but the other half remained.  

"Her name was Catherine, Catherine P-something.  Looks like she was one of the people who stayed behind to stop the zombies."  Leon said bleakly.  "Brave girl."

"Leon, these zombies aren't like the ones in Raccoon City.  At least those just wanted to eat you, these guys are really out to kill…"  Claire said.  "Look, we're going to have to change our way of thinking.  From now on, if we see a zombie, we're going to have to shoot it, not try to run around it."  

Leon nodded again, then glanced at Claire, his eyes full of concern.  "Are you going to be ok with that arm?  You think you can continue?"  

"Hey, they didn't get my shooting arm.  I'll be fine, let's get going."  Claire replied, hefting her firearm in her right hand.  

Leon started to protest some more, "But…" 

Claire cut him off with a smile, "I'll be ok, Leon.  Let's just get moving, there could be other survivors."  Leon shook his head and chuckled, before leading the way through the doorway atop the balcony.  

The portal led to a raised walkway around what looked like an outside courtyard.  The walkway encircled the garden, with several doors leading to other parts of the mansion.  Walking to the edge of the walkway, Leon glanced downwards, inspecting the area for any zombies or survivors.  The foliage was difficult to see through at first, but after a few moments inspection it was clear there was nothing in the courtyard.  Turning back to Claire, he shook his head, and Claire walked to the door closest to them.  

Testing the knob, she found it unlocked, and cautiously pushed the wooden door open.  A quick survey inside the room indicated there were no immediate dangers, and she walked in carefully.  The room appeared to be a recreation room of sorts, with three pool tables arranged in the center of the area, and several bookshelves holding novels and magazines spaced around the walls.  A large grandfather clock stood between two windows, pendulum swinging normally and rhythmically as if nothing was wrong.  Walking around the tables, Claire gasped as she came across another grisly scene.  

On the floor were two dead bodies, one of a zombie, the other belonging to another female researcher, fresh blood staining the carpet around them dark red.  The zombie had one hand plunged inside the woman's abdomen, the other grabbing her around her neck.  However, the woman's hands were wrapped around a long, thin pool cue, the tip of the cue impaling the zombie through one eye.  Undoubtedly, the courageous researcher had used the cue to take down the zombie, at the cost of her own life.  Unable to look any more, Clare shut her eyes against the macabre sight while Leon softly muttered, "Oh man…"

Opening her eyes again, Claire looked around the rest of the room.  There was a large metal door opposite the wooden one they had walked entered the room from, but it appeared to be chained shut.  Approaching the door and testing it, Claire found the door was indeed locked and chained tightly, probably a defense measure against the zombies.  The padlock and chains were old and rusty, but still kept the door firmly and safely shut against any attack the zombies could muster.  She was about to suggest to Leon they move on to another room when there was another loud and desperate female cry of help from the other side of the door.  

Turning back to the door, Claire tugged at the chains, but to no avail.  "Stand back!"  Leon ordered, aiming his gun at the lock.  Claire backed away and Leon fired twice, the first bullet shattering a link in the chain and causing it to fall aside, the second blasting the rusty lock open and knocking the door back on its hinges.  Rushing through the open doorway, Leon and Claire found themselves on another balcony, overlooking what looked like a storage room of some sort.  Large crates and barrels were piled around the perimeter of the room, with the exception of several doorways, leaving the exits open.  In the middle of the room, another lady researcher was backing away from two zombies, one of them wielding makeshift axes, similar to one of the first zombies the STARS team had encountered outside the mansion.  The woman's arms were held up in front of her, to ward off the two undead creatures, but her back was almost to the wall, where she would not be able to escape further.

"Man, it sure seems like a lot of the people who stayed back to help were women…"  Leon thought to himself.  He then glanced down at the floor of the storeroom, judging the height of the balcony not to be too high.  Leaping down, he landed hard on his feet, bending his knees to absorb the impact, but even before he had completely straightened up, Leon opened fire on the axe-wielding zombie, his bullet striking it in the shoulder and knocking its arm off.  Claire sniped from atop the balcony, her higher position allowing her to hit the other arm of the zombie, knocking that arm off as well, axe included.  The disarmed creature looked around, seemingly confused as to where its limbs had gone, before Leon finished the creature off with a volley of bullets through its brains.  

Taking aim at the remaining zombie, Leon realized his pistol was empty.  Cursing at himself, he pulled another clip as quickly as he could from his bag to reload his gun.  Glancing up at Claire, he realized she was reloading as well, unable to help the scientist either.  Looking back at the woman, Leon could only desperately watch as the undead creature shuffled towards her, trying to replace his bullets as quickly as his fumbling fingers would allow.  The zombie was only a few feet away from her now, two more steps and it would be within reach, not enough time for Leon or Claire to finish reloading and take aim…

Suddenly, two gunshots rang out and the head of the zombie exploded in a shower of blood and brains.  The decapitated zombie fell to its knees, then onto its front, revealing Chris Redfield aiming his gun at the zombie, Jill Valentine right behind him.  They had entered from the door on the other side of the storage room, which presumably led from the sewers.  Pointing his gun at the prone zombie, Chris paused to make sure it wasn't getting back up before nodding to the scientist.  

"The sewers should be safe now, you can get out through there."  Chris said, pointing at the darkness through the door he came from.  The woman choked out a thanks before rushing out the door.  

"Boy, am I glad to see you guys!"  Leon said, finishing reloading his gun.  He walked up to Chris and Jill, hearing Claire jump from the balcony and land behind him.  

"Claire, you're hurt!  What happened?"  Chris asked, his brow furrowing as he noticed his sister's bandaged arm.  

"It's nothing, a zombie got too close.  I'll live."  Claire answered nonchalantly.  She then wrinkled her nose at Chris and Jill.  They were covered in green muck, staining their clothes and making soft squishing sounds in their boots whenever they took a step.  Their bodies reeked of sewage, and Chris sported a large dark bruise above his left brow.  

Noticing Claire's expression, Jill laughed softly and said, 'Next time you two get sewer duty."  Claire and Leon chuckled in reply, while Chris nodded knowingly.  

Pointing to the contusion on Chris' forehead, Claire asked, "What happened to you?  Did a zombie get you as well?"

Chris shook his head and smiled mirthlessly, "No, I slipped in the sewage.  Like Jill said, next time it's your turn."  He touched his hand to the bruise and winced gingerly.  

Leon grinned and shook his head, turning to the wooden double door nearest them, he opened it and led the way through, deeper into the mansion of the dead.  

*****

Thanks for reading this far again!  Do please let me know what you think, ok? -Bhamv


	4. Chariot

Disclaimer:  I do not own Resident Evil or House of the Dead. Resident Evil and all RE characters mentioned here are the property of Capcom. House of the Dead and all HOTD characters are the property of Sega. This is a work of crossover fiction designed for entertainment purposes only. 

The House Of The Dead

Chapter 4 – Chariot

By Bhamv

Message from the author:  This is the chapter where Sophie dies.  I felt it was the saddest part of the HOTD game, and I hope I did the scene justice with this chapter.  

*****

Leon Kennedy led the way through the large wooden doors, noticing the panels on the doors had deep scratches and gouges in them, like fingernail marks.  There was also a big hole about head height, as if an axe had been used to break through the door.  Undoubtedly the storage room the STARS team were exiting had been used as a defensive stand against the siege of the zombies.  

On the other side of the door was a long hallway, closed wooden doorways lining both sides.  Not certain of where to go next, Leon stopped in his tracks, surprising Chris Redfield behind him and causing Chris to bump into him.  Jill Valentine then walked into Chris, and finally Claire Redfield ran into the back of Jill, sandwiching the two older STARS members between her and Leon.  

"Oof!"  Leon grunted, stumbling forward two steps before turning around in annoyance.  He was about to angrily reprimand his teammates before Chris held up his hand for silence.  Leon frowned angrily but his eyes suddenly went wide as he too heard what Chris had.  Somewhere along the hall, a voice was calling for help, a female voice familiar to all of them.  

"That voice!"  Leon cried, turning to his left to run down the carpeted hallway, listening carefully for the source of the plea, his teammates several steps behind him.  Coming to what seemed to be the correct door, Leon skidded to a stop and placed his hand on the doorknob, preparing to push it open.  Suddenly he heard a loud moan behind him, and turned around to find two zombies charging at him with terrifying speed.  Leaping backwards, he raised his gun and fired wildly at the zombies, knocking off body parts and blowing holes through them, but not stopping their advance.  Pulling his trigger again and again as he back-pedalled, Leon fell backwards into a sitting position, his gun suddenly giving an ominous 'click' indicating his clip was empty.  

"Ah damn…"  Muttered Leon as he watched the two creatures come closer and closer, trying to get back on his feet while scooting away backwards, and failing at both standing and scooting.  Suddenly a deafening gunshot rang out above him, and Leon looked up to see Jill standing over him, her gun held over his head, spitting hot lead at the walking dead.  One of the monsters fell, finally overcome by the damage taken from searing bullets.  The other one continued its charge, raising its arms above its head to bring them down on Jill and Leon.  Aiming her pistil, Jill and squeezed the trigger, but her eyes widened at the empty 'click' that emerged from it.  Sitting on the floor by her feet, Leon grimaced and sighed.  

Jill grit her teeth and took two steps forward, glaring angrily at the approaching zombie.  Claire and Chris behind her shouted a warning before watching in amazement as Jill's leg snapped up, sending her booted foot smashing into the chin of the undead creature.  The decaying flesh and bone of the zombie's head crumpled under the force of Jill's high kick, breaking off completely and flying up towards the ceiling, impacting wetly against the concrete of the ceiling before smashing down on the carpet.  The skull broke open and festering brains oozed out, mingling with the ichors from the dead zombies' corpses.  

Claire and Chris walked up to Leon, still slack-jawed from witnessing Jill kick a zombie to death, and pulled him to his feet by either arm, Claire tsking at him and shaking her head.  "You should aim better, Leon.  More practice for you when we get back to the station."  She then grinned at the dark looks he shot at her.  "Don't worry, I'll practice with you too."

Leon then turned to Jill, "Wow, that was some kick.  I didn't know you could do that!"

Jill shrugged and reloaded her gun.  "To be honest, neither did I."

Chris turned to the door they had stopped by; the cries from inside had fallen silent by then.  Holding the doorknob with his left hand while his right hand held his gun in readiness, he tested the door cautiously.  Finding it locked, Chris took two steps back and rammed his shoulder into the door, knocking it off its rusty hinges and sending it flying back to slam against the floor.  The room inside was small and bare, a few bloodstains visible on the wallpaper of the four walls.  On the floor in the middle of the room was the huddled figure of a young woman, dressed in a familiar brown suit.  Checking the remainder of the room and determining there was no immediate danger, Chris ran to the woman, calling out, "Sophie, are you ok?"

Leon, Claire, and Jill followed him into the room as Sophie started to stir, slowly lifting herself from the floor and raising her wide fearful eyes to the STARS team.  Recognizing them for the second time, she rose unsteadily to her feet and spoke in a shaking voice, "I was so scared…"  She shook on her feet, as if she would fall over again.  

Chris strode up to her and steadied her with his free hand, saying, "It's ok now, we'll get you out of here.  Can you tell us more about what happened here?  How did you get here?"  

Sophie nodded and swallowed nervously.  "The flying monster carried me over the roof, and then dropped me… I slid down the slope of the roof and fell onto the glass ceiling of this room."  She pointed at the corner of the glass ceiling, where the panes were smashed and the darkening sky was visible.  Only then did the team of rescuers notice Sophie's clothing was torn in several places, sliced open by the glass, and she had cuts on her skin.  Claire took out her first aid kit and slowly walked up to Sophie, cleaning up her wounds and applying bandages to them.  

Sophie continued, "I tried to get out, but the door was locked, and I heard zombies outside.  When I heard the gunshots, I got frightened… oww!"  She winced as Claire's antiseptic-soaked cotton ball stung a particularly nasty cut on her right palm.  

"Sorry."  Said Claire, gently wrapping bandages around Sophie's hand.  Finishing the treatment, she put her kit away in her backpack and redrew her gun.  

Chris continued with his questioning, "Sophie, I suppose it doesn't matter how this happened, but what can we do to stop it spreading?"  His hand gestured behind him, indicating the zombie-infested mansion.  "How can we get to the main control computer, and shut it down?"  

Sophie nodded in surprise, taken aback that Chris already knew about the central computer.  Deciding there was no point in asking him how he knew, she said, "I'll draw you a map to get through the mansion and labs, if you follow it you should be able to reach the main computer lab as quickly and safely as possible."  She took out a pen from her breast pocket, then patted her suit, seemingly looking for something.  

Claire recalled the small notepad Sophie had lost outside, and pulled it out of her own pocket.  Handing it to Sophie, she said, "Is this what you're looking for?"  

Sophie smiled and nodded, saying, "I must have dropped it outside.  Thanks."  Turning to a blank page, she quickly drew a floor plan with quick confident strokes, showing how extremely familiar with the mansion she was.  As she drew, she gave a constant commentary on what she was putting down on paper.  

"We're here right now… go down this hallway and through this door… then through here… circle around the outside of this courtyard… then through these processing areas… then that takes you here, to the main labs.  Follow the path through the labs… here… and you'll find the main computer lab."  She said, drawing a large circular room at the end of her map and labelling it 'Main CL'.

Handing the map to Chris, she said, "I've never actually been inside the main computer lab itself, so I don't know what guards Curien might have posted inside, or how to shut down the main computer.  But if you destroy the mainframe itself, I'm pretty sure the computer will deactivate."

Flipping through the pages of the notebook, Chris noticed sketches of several creatures, one of which looked like the winged monster that had taken Sophie earlier.  Pointing it out to Sophie, he asked, "Is this the thing that carried you in here?"  

Sophie nodded, "It's one of the specially designed bio-weapons Curien created.  Not many people knew about them, but I did.  There were four designs proposed, but I don't know how many prototypes of each design was made."  She flipped through the pages of the book, pointing out drawings of the four bio-weapons, codenamed Chariot, Hangedman, Hermit, and Magician.  Each of the drawings had notes beside them, detailing capabilities and weak spots of each creature.  Sophie then shook her head worriedly.    

"The bio-weapon prototypes are out.  Curien released them all from their holding pens.  That's how Hangedman was outside to grab me."  Sophie went even paler than before, looking around her frantically as if expecting the bat-like creature to appear again and grasp her in its long talons.  Chris glanced at his team mates, wondering if these special weapons were truly as deadly as the research assistant feared.  

Seeing no sign of an imminent attack, Sophie relaxed slightly, placing her hand on her temple like she was suffering from a sudden bout of dizziness.  All four STARS members stepped forward to help her when she suddenly crumpled to the floor again in a sitting position, grunting softly as she hit the ground.  Smiling apologetically at Chris and his team, she said softly, 'Sorry about that, I just suddenly felt dizzy.  Look, if Curien's bio-weapons get out, there's no telling what…"

All of the people in the room were either busy trying to explain something or help Sophie up they didn't notice the dark shadow cast from above until too late.  Looking up, they were horrified to see a huge humanoid figure falling towards them, and the bat-like Hangedman was visible flying away in the distance.  The giant creature smashed through the glass ceiling, shattering it completely and sending shards of glass raining down over the occupants of the room.  All four STARS members instinctively dodged backwards, away from Sophie, to avoid the worst of the glass, but Sophie, sitting on the floor, could not move or dodge and could only hold her hands over her head against the cutting chunks.  

A split second later, the giant figure landed on its feet, the impact of its landing shattering several ceramic tiles under it.  The creature was at least fifteen feet tall, towering above the humans in the room, and gave a low humming sound, almost like a constant growl.  It was covered from head to toe in what looked like steel armor plating, its face encased by a mask with a cylinder where the mouth would be.  On its chest was a large bright red spot, seemingly pulsing with fluids inside a transparent surface.  But most horrifyingly of all, in its right hand the creature held an axe, a massive copper-green battleaxe.  The shaft of the axe was as long as the creature was tall, and the green axe blade was covered with dark stains that looked like blood.  It gave a rapid glance around the room before beginning to take slow steps towards Sophie, sitting stunned on the ground.  

"Sophie!"  Leon yelled, calling her out of her trance.  She gave him a quick look, her wide eyes full of panic and fear, before glancing back up at the giant now standing beside her.  She uttered one word.  

"Chariot…"  Sophie whispered, her voice almost lost in the cold wind that now blew into the room from the missing ceiling.  The towering monster raised its axe high in the air, holding it up for one heart-stopping instant, before bringing the blade down, smashing it diagonally into Sophie's side.  She screamed as her body was swept aside like a rag doll by the blow, flying up through the air before smashing into the wall with a bone-crunching sound.  She then fell to the floor unmoving, blood rapidly flowing out from the huge axe-wound in her abdomen.  

"NO!!"  Jill cried, still shocked at the surprise attack, not noticing the giant now walking slowly towards the four STARS.  Chris and Leon had already raised their guns and stepped forward, opening fire on the giant bio-weapon before them.  Their shots impacted against the metal body armor of the giant, sending sparks flying and bullets ricocheting over the room, but not doing any damage to the creature or nor halting its advance.  Chariot raised its axe again, this time slashing at Leon and Chris in a horizontal blow.  

The two men ducked out of the way just in time, rolling aside as the blade of the weapon crashed into the wall behind where they stood, sending plaster and wallpaper flying into the air like snow and confetti.  Raising its axe again, Chariot brought it down vertically at Leon this time, aiming to chop him in two.  Leon rolled again, the head of the axe nearly catching him but missing by less than a foot, shattering the tiled floor and embedding itself in the concrete foundations of the mansion.  

Jill and Claire opened fire on the huge Chariot, aiming at various body parts… the head, the hand, the legs, but they were all covered and protected by what seemed like indestructible armor plating.  To make matters worse, the bullets bouncing off the armor whizzed all over the room, threatening to hit and injure the human occupants.  

Leon scrambled to his feet as Chariot tugged at its axe, trying to free it from the floor.  Shouting at Chris, Leon yelled, "Chris!  What does the notebook say?  Does this guy have any weaknesses?"  

Chris glanced at the monster, then down at Sophie's notebook, comparing the structure of the gargantuan fiend before him to the sketch on the tiny page.  Finding what he was looking for, he shouted, "Its chest!  Its weak point is its chest, the red spot!  Try to hit its red spot if you can!"  

Leon nodded and raised his gun, taking careful aim at the bright red area on Chariot's breast, taking advantage of its distraction while trying to free its axe.  He squeezed his trigger and shouted in delight as it penetrated the surface of the film, smashing into the Chariot's chest cavity and causing a bright red fluid to leak out of the hole.  The titan bio-weapon released the handle of its axe and staggered back, the constant growling sound beginning to break up and sound more disjointed.  

"Yes!"  Jill and Claire cried in unison, raising their guns and carefully emptying their clips at the broken red spot, the weakness in Chariot's otherwise invulnerable armor.  More and more of the red fluids leaked out until it became a torrent, creating puddles on the ground while the creature staggered further and further back, unable to defend itself.  Suddenly the armor plating of Chariot started to break apart, individual plates and pieces falling off its body, revealing unmistakably organic flesh underneath.  

"The armor must have been held on by some kind of hydraulic pressure, and we drained that pressure…"  Chris said.  

"Who cares how it worked, Chris!  Just shoot it!"  Claire yelled at her brother as she lowered her gun, pulling another clip from her backpack to reload.  Leon and Chris raised their firearms, taking their turn to launch an assault on the bio-weapon, knocking the last of its armor off and showing the whole of its pink body.  Chariot had several tentacle-like pipes running out of its arms, legs, and torso, undoubtedly how the fluids that maintained its armor was transported.  The pipes writhed and wriggled in the air, flailing and pumping even though there was nothing left to pump.  The four STARS members glanced at each other, finished reloading, then fired volley after volley of bullets at the vulnerable giant, aiming at wherever there was flesh.  Their bullets now penetrated the creature easily, knocking off bits of flesh in places while making large holes elsewhere.  The structure of Chariot became more and more damaged by the unrelenting assault, until it was finally overcome.  One final bullet from Chris hit it right between the eyes, snapping its head back and making it emit a loud high-pitched hum, almost like a death moan.  The massive giant finally fell to its knees, and with a loud thud fell to the ruined floor, unmoving.  

Chris wiped his brow while his sister Claire ran to Sophie, gingerly turning her over.  Sophie was still alive, her breath coming in ragged gasps, blood still flowing out of her wound.  Her innards were visible through the wide hole in her side, and many of her bones and limbs obviously broken, bend awkwardly in some places and poking out of her skin in others.  

Sophie raised one hand, still wearing the bandages Claire had put on her earlier, and said weakly, "You must stop Curien… or else… something terrible will happen…"  Her eyes roamed across the faces of each of the STARS members, silently pleading for them to ensure her efforts and those of her brave colleagues would not be in vain.  Sophie then gave a soft sigh and her hand slumped to the tiled floor, never to be raised again.  

"Sophie…"  Claire whispered, closing her eyes as tears streamed down her face, dripping onto her pink motor biking outfit.  Leon walked up beside her and placed one hand on her head, tenderly stroking Claire's soft brown hair.  For what seemed like an eternity, there was only the sound of the cold howling wind in the room, as the STARS team reflected on another life they had failed so miserably to protect.  

Finally, Claire stirred, gently lowering the ruined body of Sophie to the floor and rising to her feet.  Wiping the tears from her eyes, she took several deep breaths before saying, "All right, let's go find that computer lab."  Without turning back, she marched past the axe still stuck in the floor and out of the room, gripping her gun tightly in her hand.  

"You'll pay for this, Curien…"  Leon muttered as he and his team mates followed Claire, deeper into their quest to stop Curien and his vile creations.  

*****

Thanks for reading this far again!  Please review and comment extensively! -Bhamv


	5. The Hearts Of Men

Disclaimer:  I do not own Resident Evil or House of the Dead. Resident Evil and all RE characters mentioned here are the property of Capcom. House of the Dead and all HOTD characters are the property of Sega. This is a work of crossover fiction designed for entertainment purposes only. 

The House Of The Dead

Chapter 5 – The hearts of men

By Bhamv

Message from the author:  Sorry about the delay in posting this chapter, been up to my eyeballs in work-related activities.  My chapters also seem to be getting longer and longer, but I simply couldn't find a good place to end this one until I ended it where I did.  Hope you guys don't mind.  

This chapter introduces a few more original characters, some good, and some bad.  

*****

Claire Redfield strode silently through the dark corridors of the mansion lab, coming to a large set of double doors made out of metal.  Obviously they were security doors meant to keep someone (or something) out.  Consulting the map in her hand that Sophie had provided, Claire determined she was at the correct door.  Looking around however, she could find no knobs or switches to open the door.  

"Stand back."  She called over her shoulder to her three teammates behind her, her brother Chris Redfield, boyfriend Leon Kennedy, and STARS colleague Jill Valentine.  Pulling an electronic detonator and a small cube of plastic explosive from her backpack, Claire made a small and simple bomb, which she placed at the base of the door.  The STARS team then ran around a corner for cover just as a deafening explosion rocked the carpeted hallway.  Bits of plaster and wood rained down over the foursome while they waited for the dust from the explosion to settle.  Claire then led the three other members of her team around the corner and through the now-opened doorway.  

The room they came to looked like another lobby, with a large set of open wooden doors directly before them and two passages leading to either side, to the left and right.  A section of the floor before the door looked like a hatch or trapdoor, seemingly locked shut by thick rusty chains.  Four wide round pillars stood in the massive room, supporting the tall marble ceiling.  A loud moan suddenly came from behind one of the pillars, joined by low growls and shrieks that sent shivers up Claire's spine.  Several zombies emerged from the passages on either side, ducking behind the pillars to avoid the gunfire that immediately came their way.  

"Oh man…" Said Leon, holding his fire then resuming when a zombie popped his head out from behind the pillar.  His bullet made a large hole in the forehead of the zombie and it thudded to the floor.  Slowly backing away towards the open doors, he aimed his gun at the pillars, ready to fire whenever a zombie showed itself.  His teammates did the same, pistols held ready before them, slowly inching towards the door.  If they could get through that doorway, they could close it for temporary respite from the creatures.  

Leon suddenly tripped and almost stumbled, and he glanced down to see what was wrong.  He had stepped onto the chained trapdoor right before the wooden set of doors, and had almost fallen over one of the thick chains.  Deciding there was no danger there, he looked back at the zombies hiding behind the stone pillars, taking another step back to put his full weight on the hatch.  The decaying chains emitted a metallic groan and suddenly one of the links snapped, opening the trapdoor and dropping Leon through the dark hole produced.  

"Woah…" Leon yelled before disappearing down the chute.  The zombies behind the pillars sensed weakness and streamed out in attack, arms outstretched to grab at the remaining STARS members.  Chris, Jill and Claire instinctively squeezed their triggers, launching a volley of bullets that felled the first line of undead creatures.  Firing again and again, they managed to halt the advance of the zombies until all of the walking dead were reduced to twitching cadavers on the carpeted floor.  Claire then whirled around and knelt down beside the open hatch that Leon had fallen through.  

"Leon!  Can you hear me?"  She called, but there was no response, not even an echo.  Taking a deep breath, she suddenly leapt down the shaft after Leon.  

"Hey!"  Chris cried, grabbing at his sister but he was too late.  Cursing under his breath, he prepared to leap down as well when Jill grabbed his arm.  

"Wait, listen!"  Jill said, pointing with her gun through the open doorway.  From a distance they could hear unmistakably human screams and cries for help.  "Claire and Leon can take care of themselves, we need to go see if those people need us, Chris."  

Chris glanced back at the dark square hole Leon and Claire had disappeared into, then sighed and nodded.  "You're right, let's go."  He said, running with Jill through the open doorway.  

Claire slid down the slanted smooth chute, the walls around her seemed to be made of cold metal.  The whooshing air coming from below smelt fouler and fouler with every meter she dropped.  Suddenly the chute turned vertical and she was unable to suppress a yell of surprise as she fell down without any way of stopping herself.  The last few feet seemed like miles as she plummeted in free-fall, until she impacted against something hard and round.  Whatever it was she fell on gave a yell of surprise and pain, then collapsed with a loud splash, throwing Claire into a river of stinking sewage water.  

Scrambling to her feet, Claire realized she had fallen onto Leon's head.  The young cop was gradually standing up as well in the waist-high sewage.  "Oh Leon, I'm so sorry about that…" Claire stammered.  

"Oww... Claire, is that you?"  Leon said, holding his head.  In the dim light of the sewers they had fallen into Leon saw that Clare was covered in head to toe in muck, her pink outfit stained by the sewage.  Glancing upwards at the disposal shaft that he and Claire had fallen through, he quickly stepped to one side in case anything else fell down.  

"Yeah, Leon, it's me.  I guess it really was our turn for sewer duty, huh?"  Claire said, managing a small grin.  Leon smiled back in reply, then looked around them.  Directly in front of them appeared to be an exit, a ramp leading upwards and out of the sewers.  Sloshing through the murky waters, Claire and Leon waded slowly to the ramp, the thick sludge seemingly clinging to their legs and hold them back.  Suddenly Claire felt fingers grasp her ankle in a vise-like grip, and the murky water around her and Leon starting to swirl and bubble.  Low growls and gurgles filled the air, echoing in the sewer tunnels.  

In desperation, Claire pointed her gun at the water beside her trapped ankle and fired.  A growl turned into a howl of agony as her leg was released and a green figure rose out of the water, a bleeding hole in its torso.  It was immediately recognisable as one of the creatures that ambushed Chris from the fountain outside the mansion, with a mouthful of sharp jagged teeth and predatory claws on both hands.  Its skin was green, slimy and amphibian-like, in fact the whole creature was reminiscent of a killer frog.  Its eyes seemed to glow red, and it gave a loud wail of pain and anger before collapsing back into the water.  All around Leon and Claire more creatures rose out of the depths though, seemingly awakened by the sound of the gunshot.  

Claire counted at least six of the green monsters with one glance, and decided not to linger to make a more detailed census.  Shouting at Leon, "Go!" she waded as fast as she could towards the water bank, to climb up the ramp.  Making it there before Leon did, she whirled around to see how he was doing.  

Leon was running through the water as fast as he could, but to Claire's horror she found the creatures paddling towards him faster than he could wade.  Undoubtedly these were specially engineering bio-weapons for water assaults, Claire found the back of her mind noting.  She then raised her gun and fired another shot at the slimy green thing closest to Leon, hitting it the side of the head and killing it.  The other monsters converged on their dead companion as its corpse fell back into the waters and immediately started tearing at it, a cannibalistic feeding frenzy sending the dirty water frothing and splashing everywhere.  This gave Leon enough time to make it to the ramp and turn around.  

The sound of bones crunching and flesh tearing made the two STARS wrinkle their noses and turn away, nauseated.  Only too glad to leave that scene behind them, they jogged up the ramp to the small hatch at the end.  Pushing it open, Leon climbed through first then turned around to help Claire through.  Behind her, Claire heard the sounds of feeding subsiding, and the frog-men were beginning to approach the ramp and hatch.  Wriggling through, she hurriedly shut the hatch behind her and jammed a nearby chair against it, preventing the creatures from getting through.  

Claire then heard a sharp inhalation of breath behind her, and leapt to her feet to find Leon aiming his gun at a figure on the other side of the room.  Looking around, she found they were in a kitchen, and the chair she had just grabbed was from the kitchen table beside the hatch.  The small doorway they had entered from seemed to be a disposal shaft for kitchen wastes.  Pots, pans, plates, and other utensils were still arranged around the kitchen, like any other day for meal preparation.  Foodstuffs hung from the ceiling on hooks, and a large refrigerator hummed quietly in the corner.  

Turning her attention back to Leon's target, she found it was man, alive and well.  He seemed a little frightened at having a firearm aimed between his eyes though.  The man was dressed in jeans and a tight black t-shirt, an unusually casual outfit compared to the white uniforms of the researchers they had seen previously.  His face was dirty in several places, and his hands were held out to either side, trying to ensure Leon didn't pull the trigger.  

Claire put her hand on Leon's arm, silently asking him to hold his fire.  She then turned back to the man, and said, "It's ok, we're here to help."  

Leon slowly lowered his gun but still held it ready, and asked the man, "Are you a researcher in this lab?"

The man slowly put his hands down and nodded.  He spoke with a slight Australian accent and scratched his stubbly chin before opening his mouth.  "My name's Culkin Spiriter, I work here as a researcher too.  Today was my day off, but I heard that there was something going on here so I came back to see if I could help."

Claire nodded and glanced at Leon, and was puzzled to see Leon's furrowed brow unyielding.  There was something he found about the Culkin that he didn't seem to like, she could tell.  Turning back to Culkin, she said, "I'm Claire, and this is Leon.  You'd better come with us, it'll be a lot safer that way."  

Culkin nodded and pointed at the closed doors behind him.  "That's the dining room, I think I heard someone in there."  He turned around and pushed at the door, but it was locked and refused to budge.  Leon stepped forward and fired into the lock of the door, shattering it with a shower of sparks.  The door swung back under the momentum of the bullet, revealing a large and ornate dining room.  There was a long table in the center of the room, already set with cutlery and candles, while decorative lamps lined the walls.  On the table laid the quivering figure of a white-clad researcher, a young woman.  She gave a small scream when she heard Culkin, Leon, and Claire enter, and raised her arms to fend off any threats.  

Claire walked forward and held the researcher's hand in her own in a soft reassuring grasp, saying, "Hey, easy there, it's ok.  We're not zombies."  Her voice was soothing, and she smiled at finding another survivor.  "My name's Claire Redfield.  Are you all right?"

The woman took a deep shuddering breath to calm herself, and nodded.  She was young, seemingly to still be in her late teens, and wore thin-framed spectacles.  "I'm ok, I'm not hurt.  My name's Jessica Tate, I was attacked by zombies just now, but for some reason they all left before they could hurt me.  I don't know what happened, I don't know…" She trailed off, tears rolling down her cheeks, seemingly on the edge of hysteria.  

Culkin stepped forward and put his arm reassuringly around her shoulders and started to comfort Jessica in a low voice.  Claire let him take care of her and turned around to find Leon on the opposite side of the room, staring grimly at them.  He beckoned at Claire with his hand, wanting her to get closer to him.  

When she got within reach, Leon pulled her to his side by her arm and muttered in her ear, "Something's not right, I don't trust that Culkin guy."  

"Culkin?  Why?"  Claire whispered, glancing back at Culkin and Jessica.  He seemed to be making an effect on her as her sobs were gradually subsiding.  

"There're just too many unanswered questions in his story.  How did he know about the outbreak here?  Sophie was the only person who managed to contact the outside world, and I don't think she would have called someone on his day off before calling us.  And why would he come back anyway?  Everybody else is trying to get out.  If he really works here I don't think he could have not known about the zombies' capabilities.  Why would he be so eager to subject himself to that?"  Leon replied in a harsh whisper.  

"So he's brave, what's wrong with that?"  Claire said, frowning.  

"And I don't really think he's really a researcher type anyway.  Did you see that body under that t-shirt?  He's built like a prizefighter…" Leon continued, glancing back at Culkin again.  Claire looked back at Culkin's obvious strong figure again, a dreamy smile starting curling her lips that she quickly erased when she caught Leon scowling at her.  

"Ok, well… it doesn't really matter anyway, since we don't have much of a choice.  We can't exactly leave him here in the mansion, and we might need his help later.  We can't use the map Sophie drew now since we're not following the main path any more."  Claire said, then stopped talking when she saw Culkin and Jessica stand up.  Jessica seemed to have calmed down by then, wiping her wet cheeks with the sleeves of her uniform.  They walked up to Leon and Claire.  

"So what do we do now?"  Culkin asked, his glance darting between the two STARS.  

"We're heading into the labs to get to the main central computer.  We're going to try to disable it."  Claire answered.  There was a sudden growl and a loud banging sound from the kitchen, as well as the sound of many wet footsteps.  "And we'd better move fast, those frog things sound hungry."  

"All right, I know the way.  Follow me, and quickly."  Culkin said, heading to the opposite side of the large dining hall and pulling open the doors there.  The chair Claire used to block the entrance to the sewers suddenly broke into splinters, the hatch flying open and releasing the green creatures into the kitchen.  Taking careful aim, Leon shot the first creature through its throat and sent it crashing back.  As expected, the remaining amphibious creatures converged on the corpse, feeding like buzzards.  He then turned and ran through the exit, pulling the heavy doors shut behind him.  

Culkin led the foursome down a long hallway until they came to an open door, which led to a bare room with just a bookshelf in the corner.  "Gimme a hand here officer."  He said to Leon, pulling at the bookshelf.  Leon pulled from the other side, yanking the heavy shelf away from the wall and revealing a secret passage behind it.  The bookshelf toppled to the floor with a loud crash, scattering thick volumes everywhere and sending dust flying into the air.  A loud moaning immediately sounded from the corridor outside, and got closer and closer rapidly.  

"Well, looks like we got their attention.  Better move fast."  Culkin said, leading the way through the tunnel that had been hidden by the bookshelf.  Leon followed, with Jessica behind him, while Claire brought up the rear.  The tunnel was narrow, only allowing them to walk through single-file, although the ceiling was high enough so that they didn't have to bend down.  There were light bulbs at regular intervals along the stone walls, giving them enough illumination to find their bearings.  After what seemed like an eternity in the claustrophobic passage, Culkin, Leon, Claire and Jessica came to end of the tunnel, which led to a large room with a balcony.  

Standing in the room were Chris and Jill, conversing softly.  Hearing someone approach, they both raised their guns instinctively and pointed it at Culkin, who whimpered and stuck his arms into the air.  

"Hey, hey, it's ok!  It's just us!"  Leon said, following Culkin out from the tunnel.  Chris and Jill smiled and lowered their guns, then wrinkled their noses at Leon and Claire.  

"Yes yes, we got thrown in the sewers and we smell bad.  You don't have to say anything."  Jill said, grinning slightly.  

Chris nodded.  "You had the map from Sophie.  Jill and I got this far but we didn't know which way to go next.  Good thing you arrived just now, we were about to turn back and look for you."  

Claire smiled and pulled out the tiny map, now slightly wet and smudged from her trip through the murky sewers.  Consulting it, she pointed at one of the doors exiting the room, saying, "That one.  We should be able to get to the labs through there."  

Chris glanced at the door then led the way through, followed by his enlarging team.  Halfway through the next room though, he stopped in his tracks suddenly, causing Leon behind him to bump into him.

Leon was about to angrily reprimand his teammate when Chris suddenly held up one hand for silence, staring at a bookcase along one wall.  Leon grimaced, then heard what Chris had, a soft whining sound from behind the books.  Walking up to the bookshelf, he tugged it away from the wall, revealing a small alcove behind it.  A female researcher was cowering in the alcove, huddled into a ball and whimpering softly.  Jessica suddenly gave a loud cry of joy and ran into the secret space, embracing the hiding woman.  

"Laura, Laura, it's you!  You're all right!"  Jessica cried, yelling in relief.  Laura looked up, unbelieving, then wrapped her arms tightly around Jessica.  

"Oh Jess, my friend, it's you!"  Laura sobbed, holding her friend tightly in her arms.  Leon, Chris, Jill and Claire looked at each other, unable to contain the smiles on their faces.  This was what made rescue missions worthwhile, it was why they risked their lives as STARS members.  Because they put their necks on the line, friends and loved ones could be reunited.  Chris chuckled softly while Jill gave a soft sigh of contentment, forgetting momentarily that they were still surrounded by deadly zombies.  

Inside the hidden alcove, Laura gradually regained her composure and stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes.  Her own white uniform was stained in many places by blood and grime, showing what she went through before finally resorting to taking cover behind the bookcase.  She looked young as well, about Jessica's age, but was more beautiful and voluptuous.  Undoubtedly she distracted many of her male colleagues at work.  Leon found himself staring and smiling dreamily before he caught Claire's dark look.  Laura beamed back, however, a smile of relief and happiness, gazing at her rescuers with shining eyes.  Her smile was suddenly wiped out when there was a loud crash from the room they were just in, followed by the distinctive growls and moans of zombies.  

"Oh no, they're coming."  Jill said.  Chris looked at the three researchers, and made a quick decision.  

"You guys won't be able to get out the way we came in, it sounds like zombies have cut us off.  You'll have to come with us, and see if we can find a way to get you out of here later."  Chris said, pointing at the exit to his right, leading further into the mansion.  He caught an odd expression on Culkin's face, but didn't have time to ponder or interpret it as the growls were getting closer.  Gesturing with his hand, he yelled, "Come on, move!"

Leon led the way through the door, followed by the three other STARS members, with the researchers the last out of the door.  Culkin, the last in line, pulled the door shut behind him, in the hope that it would slow their pursuers.  The exit led to a balcony overlooking an outside courtyard, with a thin stone bridge connecting them to the balcony opposite.  The ground was nearly seventy feet below the bridge, a ground composed of sharp black rocks that made the STARS hope the bridge was sound.  There was another door on the balcony at the other side, the only path they could take.  Leading the way, Leon ran across the bridge, followed by his teammates.  Pulling the door open, he was about to rush through when he heard a loud scream behind him.  

The four STARS whirled around and their shocked eyes widened in unison.    Culkin was struggling with Jessica, pushing her towards the side of the bridge.  The girl was fighting with all her might, but the man in black was too strong for her.  His knee flew up into her abdomen, knocking the wind out of her and cutting her scream short.  He then took the chance to lift her bodily and threw her over the side of the bridge.  Jessica managed a brief shriek before her body impacted against the stones with an indescribable splatting sound.  

Laura screamed in horror at her friend's demise, but was suddenly grabbed from behind by Culkin.  The man had a small revolved in his hand, which he held to Laura's temple.  Leon cursed softly under his breath and wondered briefly where Culkin had hidden the gun before raising his own firearm, pointing it at Culkin and Laura.  "Drop the gun!  Let her go!"  Leon roared.  

However, Culkin held his hostage in front of him as a human shield with his free arm, and merely grined evilly at Leon.  He backed away slowly, back towards the door they had entered the courtyard from, the growls of zombies still audible over the cold wind outside.  

"Hold it right there!  Put down the gun and let her go!"  Yelled Chris, raising his own gun, but Culkin didn't halt his footsteps.  The hand restraining the girl lewdly groped her body while holding her tightly against him.  Suddenly Laura sprung into action, kicking her heel back into Culkin's knee while pulling the hand holding the gun away from her head.  A scuffle ensued as Laura tried to disarm her captor, holding his wrists and trying to pry the gun away from him.  But Culkin was too strong, and after a brief tussle he contemptuously threw the girl aside, hurling her onto the stone tiles of the bridge.  He then pointed his gun down and fired three shots into Laura's chest, her body shaking as each bullet embedded itself in her.  

Leon screamed in rage, a roar echoed by the other STARS.  The four STARS members aimed and pointed their guns at Culkin, who simply smirked and raised his revolver at those opposing him.  Deciding not to risk being outgunned by the four pistols before him, he pulled a tiny walkie-talkie from his belt and pressed a button on it.  "Call them off."  He spoke into the communicator, walking slowly back towards the door.  The sound of undead growls and moans suddenly faded from behind the wooden door, and Culkin Spiriter calmly pulled it open and sauntered through, turning around to wink at the STARS team before pulling the door shut and locking it with an audible click.  

Chris and his team lowered their guns and simply stood, stunned and dazed, unable to move for a long, long time.  Claire was the first to break down, burying her face in Chris's chest as tears rolled down her cheek.  Leon grit his teeth, trying to overcome the bitter taste of betrayal rising in the back of his throat.  He then sighed and turned back to the door, leaving the courtyard where two more brave researchers had lost their lives, his teammates glumly following.  

*****

Man, that Culkin is such a bastard, isn't he?  Don't worry, he'll get his comeuppance in a later chapter.  I'm still trying to think of the best way for him to die.  Anyway, thanks for reading this far again, please review and comment!  -Bhamv


	6. Hangedman

Disclaimer:  I do not own Resident Evil or House of the Dead. Resident Evil and all RE characters mentioned here are the property of Capcom. House of the Dead and all HOTD characters are the property of Sega. This is a work of crossover fiction designed for entertainment purposes only. 

The House Of The Dead

Chapter 6 – Hangedman

By Bhamv

*****

Culkin Spiriter chuckled softly as he walked back to the room with the balcony, pausing briefly to admire the mountains outside.  The blue peaks were capped by a trace of snow at the top, gradually turning into green forest and grassland as the altitude dropped.  The mansion itself was located in a densely wooded area.  Walking out onto the balcony, he leaned on the railings in silence for a while before pulling his communicator out again.  

"Took out another two of them, Curien."  He spoke into the mouthpiece.  A deep raspy voice replied from the transmitter.  

"So I see on my monitors, Spriter."  The voice said, not sounding very pleased.  "I also see there is some outside interference.  Take care of them."  

"No can do, boss.  When I agreed to do this stuff for you I thought I'd just be killing zombies and scientists.  No one said anything about cops."  Culkin said, noticing the cuff of his sleeve was torn, most likely from the struggle with Laura or Jessica.  He frowned.  

"I'm not paying you to ask questions, I'm paying you to follow my orders."  Curien's voice said, sounding angry.  

"It doesn't matter how much you pay me if I'm going to end up shot!"  Culkin growled into the communicator, his own voice rising with anger.  "Forget it, it's not worth it.  I'm quitting while I'm ahead, while I'm still alive.  I'm out of here, Curien."  

There was silence from the transmitter for a moment before Curien replied.  "I am, as you can imagine, very disappointed to hear you say that, and I strongly suggest you reconsider."  

"Too bad."  Culkin said, chuckling into his comlink before throwing it off the balcony.  The small black device spun in the air before smashing into bits on the stone ground beneath.  The traitor stared at the ruined electronic device for several moments before pulling out his gun and reloading it, preparing for his departure from the mansion labs.  Turning around, he furrowed his brow while he planned the quickest way out without some of the bio-engineered nasties getting in the way.  Suddenly a high-pitched laugh echoed through the air and a dark black shadow appeared on the floor of the balcony, rapidly getting larger, engulfing him.  

Culkin only had time to glance upwards and glimpse a black figure and bat-like wings before sharp talons sank into his right shoulder, shaking the revolver out of his hand and lifting him into the air.  He screamed in pain and shock, a scream ignored by his captor and unheard by the other human occupants of the mansion.  Giant wings beating, the creature heaved the struggling Culkin up through the air by his bleeding shoulder, and over the mansion.  

Sitting in the central computer lab, Curien smirked as he watched Hangedman grab Culkin on his monitor.  So the fool thought he could just walk out, thought Curien, pecking a few more commands into the keyboard before him.  Hangedman received the instructions via the computer chip implanted in its brain, and changed its course of flight, heading to the central courtyard of the labs.  It hovered high over the gardens of the courtyard, still holding the struggling Culkin in its foreclaws, and flew in several lazy circles, waiting for the intruders to pass by.  

Good help is so hard to find nowadays, Curien thought to himself, especially human help.  Paying Culkin to kill off the researchers that managed to evade the zombies and other bio-weapons in the lab was probably a mistake.  Whirling around in his chair, he smiled at the black figure on the whirling pedestal in the center of the room.  The figure was as still as a statue, unmoving while several gigantic humming metal rings circled around it, energizing it and keeping it restrained at the same time.  Lifting himself to his feet, Curien grabbed his walking stick and sauntered slowly to the pedestal, smiling to himself as he approached.  

"Soon it will be time to set you free, my precious, my masterpiece…"  Curien said, unable to suppress a laugh of malicious delight as he pictured his masterpiece free and wrecking havoc.  His laugh echoed through the massive computer lab, reverberating and resonating until it became a deafening chorus of mania.  Glancing back at his monitors, he smiled and said, "Ahh, they've made it past the first incubation lab.  Excellent!"

Leon Kennedy strode through the corridor of the mansion lab, followed by his teammates Claire Redfield, Chris Redfield, and Jill Valentine.  Passing by a marble bust, he glanced at it, noting the inscription beneath it:  "Curien, Owner and Founder".  He took another look at the statue, a sculpture of the upper body of a man with a haughty look on his face, wearing spectacles and a thick scarf.  Enraged, Leon smashed the butt of his gun into the side of the statue, knocking it to the ground.  

"Curien… the bastard himself."  Leon said, gritting his teeth at the fallen statue.  He felt Claire put a hand on his shoulder and stiffened before relaxing a bit and taking a deep breath.  

"No point getting mad at a statue, Leon."  Chris said, turning to a nearby wooden door.  Pulling it open, the four STARS members were immediately assaulted by a strong scent of chemicals, mingling with the stench of death that had permeated the mansion since their arrival.  Leading the way through another short corridor, Chris pushed open a set of metal doors and walked into what looked like another laboratory.  Earlier they had passed an incubation lab, with two large tubes holding humanoid figures drifting in a light blue fluid, and now they were in another research area.  The mansion was starting to look less and less like a mansion and more like a horrific perversion of science with every door they went through, with every corridor they passed.  

This particular lab had large pool of what appeared to be water in the center, surrounded by railings.  The walkway encompassed it on three sides, leading to a bank of terminals on the other side of the pool.  Peeking inside the fluid, Chris held back the urge to retch when he saw the gruesome malformed things in the pool.  They were horribly swollen in strange places, bleeding and leaking fluids into the water in others.  Some were shaped like humans, others had a more aquatic shape, like amphibians or fish.  They were for the most part still but occasionally one of them would twitch or move, indicating they were alive.  

"What's in the… oh my god."  Jill said, peering inside the pool then covering her mouth with her hand.  She was about to say more when she heard the sound of frantic running and panting.  Looking across the pool and control terminals Jill spied a ladder leading up through a hatch in the ceiling, and was surprised when she suddenly saw a white-clad researcher descend the ladder, half climbing and half falling.  

Tumbling to the stone floor, the man looked up the ladder, terror written all over his face.  There was a loud screeching and a small figure descended down the hatch, landing beside the researcher.  Its movements and cries were monkey-like, in fact very similar to the white apes Claire and Leon had encountered at the entrance of the lab.  This monkey, however, had obvious enhancements upon it; on both hands were foot-long metal claws, and its body and head were covered by what seemed like armor and a helmet.  The helmet was shaped like a top hat, which gave the monkey a bizarre Jack-The-Ripper type appearance.  The creature leapt onto the researcher and sank its teeth into his forearm, raising one clawed hand to finish him off.  

Jill raced around the edge of the pool, firing as she went.  One bullet grazed the shoulder of the researcher but struck the monkey square in the torso, knocking it back against the wall.  The clawed creature gave a pitiful wail before slumping, unmoving.  The scientist gave a groan of pain, blood reddening his uniform on his shoulder and forearm.  

Jill jogged the last few feet to the man, pulling her first-aid kit out.  "Sorry about that."  She said, wrapping bandages around the man's wounds.  

"It's ok, it's better than being dead."  The scientist said, putting on a brave face.  He then looked up through the hatch again.  "Don't worry about me though, there are others.  They're still upstairs!"

Jill wrapped a few more layers of bandages on the man's arm, then put her kit away.  Looking back her teammates, she nodded and started to climb up the ladder.  Squeezing through the narrow hatch at the top, she turned back to help the rest of the STARS team up.  After everyone managed to wedge themselves through, they looked around to see where they were.  

The ladder had led to another outdoor courtyard, to a walkway high above it.  The walkway they were on surrounded the top of the courtyard.  Beyond the railings of the catwalk was a section of slanted roof, which ended in a sharp drop of several dozen feet down to the stone and grass ground.  Several large trees stood in the gardens, their branches bare of leaves, swaying eerily in the light of the full moon that now hung in the sky.  

The walkway around them was littered with the bodies of researchers, all dead from the look of things.  Some had long parallel wounds on their bodies, as if they had been clawed to death.  Peering down at the garden again, the STARS team noticed more bodies scattered over the grass.  How those unfortunate souls had died was unclear from where the STARS team stood.  

Walking slowly along the edge of the walkway, Jill suddenly heard a familiar high-pitched laugh, an artificial-sounding noise that grated the ears.  Looking up, she saw the moon partially blocked by a black figure with massive wings.  

"Hangedman…"  Claire muttered, pulling out Sophie's notebook again.  Before she could flip it open, however, Hangedman spoke in its harsh screeching voice again.  

"This is as far as you go, I'll finish you here!"  It said while hovering in the air, massive wings beating rhythmically.  Only then did the STARS team notice it had someone grasped in its talons, a figure dressed in black and still struggling feebly.  

"Culkin!"  Leon cried, recognizing the man.  Culkin stopped his struggling to look down at the STARS team momentarily, then he felt the talons in his shoulder start to let go.  He had been fighting to get free earlier, but now when he glanced down at the ground so far beneath him he suddenly grabbed onto the forearm of Hangedman, clinging on for dear life.  It was no use though, with a simple shake of his arm Hangedman shook Culkin off, sending him plummeting down to the courtyard.  

Culkin screamed as he fell, flipping several times through the air.  He finally landed on his front atop one of the trees, several sharp branches and twigs stabbing into his body.  Wounded but still alive, he started to slowly free himself from the tree.  

The STARS team had little time to spare for him though.  Looking up at Hangedman, they heard him laugh again before emitting a high-pitched screeching sound.  The screeches resonated around the walls of the courtyard and were joined by the high-pitched squeals of dozens of other creatures.  The air suddenly blackened and filled with large dark bats, bigger and uglier than any bats the STARS team had seen before.  They circled around Hangedman, creating a cloud of squeaking black flesh around him.  With a low wail that sounded like a command, Hangedman waved one hand at the STARS team.  A group of bats split from the main flock and swooped down, jaws wide-open and long sharp teeth exposed.  

"Woah!"  Chris shouted, back pedalling as fast as he could but still ended up with a bat sinking its fangs into his arm, clinging on by its mouth.  Shaking the bat off, he flung the creature against the stone wall where it impacted with a wet sound.  "Spread out!  Watch out for those bats!"  He shouted.  

Jill ducked beneath several bats flying her way and ran around the perimeter of the walkway, pointing her gun at the black mass of wings above her.  Firing twice, she managed to hit a few bats but couldn't see Hangedman to shoot him.  She suddenly felt the flapping of wings on the back of her neck and instinctively ducked and rolled, lying flat on her back and pointing her gun upwards at the bat that almost bit her.  Squeezing her trigger, she struck the bat with her bullet and the furry thing exploded in a shower of fur and blood.  Pulling out another clip and reloading her pistol, she lifted herself onto one knee and launched a volley of shots at the cloud of bats.  

Hangedman could still be heard giving low screeches, sending bats soaring after the scrambling STARS members.  Suddenly the wailing sound was interrupted by a low groan, and the cloud of bats scattered somewhat revealing the larger figure of the bio-weapon, holding a wound in its side.  Gradually the bats circled away, disappearing to where ever they had come from, vanishing as mysteriously as they had emerged.  The groaning stopped and for a moment the only sounds in the courtyard were the flapping of Hangedman's wings and the whoosh of the cold wind.  The rhythm of the wings increased slowly as the manbat rose up into the dark sky, blending into the black of the night.  

Jill straightened up while her teammates ran to her.  "Are you all right?"  Claire called.  

"I'm fine.  I guess I got a lucky shot and hit that thing."  Jill replied.  

"Do you think it's gone?"  Claire said, looking up at the night sky around them.  Other than the full white moon the sky was completely black, save for an occasional star here and there.  She looked back at Jill and her other teammates when she suddenly noticed a black dot on the moon out of the corner of her eye.  The dot quickly became larger and larger, rapidly growing until it blocked out the moon, enveloping the STARS team in a massive flapping shadow.  The wings of the diving Hangedman swept over the four STARS, knocking them over the stone railing of the walkway onto the steep sloping roof below.  

Claire and Jill, being closer to the railing, were knocked over first, followed immediately by Leon and Chris.  The foursome slid down the roof, scrambling desperately to stop themselves before they went over the edge.  Jill reached the edge first and was unable to stop herself as her momentum carried her over, sending her plummeting down.  A strong hand grabbing her by her arm, pulling her to a jerking stop and halting her fall.  Looking up, she saw Chris holding onto her, his feet braced against the edge of the roof, barely staying up himself.  Behind him Leon and Claire had managed to stop themselves and were slowly scrambling up the roof, trying to reach a nearby window.  

Jill looked back over the courtyard, spying Culkin still trying to liberate himself from the tree he fell into, while Hangedman flew in lazy circles in the air above.  It seemed to know the STARS were almost helpless, and was preparing to strike them down at its leisure; or perhaps its wound was weakening it.  

Almost helpless, but not completely.  Jill looked up at Chris, saying, "Hang on to me… I'm going to try to shoot that thing down."  Chris nodded and held her arm tighter, his fingers clenching over her limb.  Jill raised her gun in her free hand and took careful aim at the hovering Hangedman, trying to steady her shaking hand.  Hangedman seemed to sense the danger and suddenly swooped high into the air before folding his wings and diving at Jill and Chris, long sharp talons on its forearm extended and glistening with blood.  It gave a loud shriek as it approached, faster and faster.  

"Err, Jill…"  Chris said, watching their adversary dive closer and closer.  Jill said nothing but adjusted her aim, pointing her gun at the diving figure, waiting for her chance.  Hangedman flew closer until it was only a few feet away, almost within swiping distance.  It pulled one arm back, ready to bring it forward on Chris and Jill and send them falling to their doom.  Jill saw her chance with Hangedman's chest now exposed and vulnerable.  She pulled her trigger, launching the deadly bullet through Hangedman's ribcage, halting its advance abruptly and throwing it back.   The creature seemed to writhe in the air, hovering in agony before falling back, plummeting downwards with a loud scream, arms legs and wings flailing feebly.  

Its fall, in fact, was bringing it straight down over the tree Culkin was in, directly over Culkin actually.  Culkin twisted painfully in the branches to look up at the falling figure, and his eyes opened wide in shock before he was crushed under the large body of Hangedman.  Branches and twigs stabbed through Culkin's body completely and entered Hangedman's skin, linking them together in a gruesome chain.  The sound of wood snapping and breaking continued for several moments until the weight of the two bodies finally became too much for the plant and they fell out of the tree, tumbling to the stone ground with a loud thump.  

Chris grunted and heaved, pulling Jill up onto the roof slowly.  He then laid flat on his back atop the roof, panting with exertion and adrenaline.  Jill lay beside him, panting as well.  "Well, that was a close one wasn't it?"  Jill said.  

Chris could only huff in reply, looking up at the full moon in the sky.  Suddenly he heard Leon and Claire call, "Guys, over here!"  Craning his neck he saw they had managed to reach the window and pry it open.  Claire slipped through first, followed by Leon.  

"Come on Chris."  Jill said, starting to scramble slowly to the window.  Chris followed, pulling himself across the slippery shingles carefully.  Reaching the window after what seemed like hours of careful stepping, Jill and Chris jumped through and rejoined Claire and Leon.  Pulling a clip out of his backpack, Chris reloaded and muttered under his breath.  

"We won't let you have it your way, Curien."

*****

That sure sounds like a painful experience for Culkin, doesn't it?  I hope he's all right… wouldn't do for him to be finished off so quickly now, would it?  -Evil grin-  Anyway, thanks for reading this far again, please review and comment!  -Bhamv


	7. Paths

Disclaimer:  I do not own Resident Evil or House of the Dead. Resident Evil and all RE characters mentioned here are the property of Capcom. House of the Dead and all HOTD characters are the property of Sega. This is a work of crossover fiction designed for entertainment purposes only. 

The House Of The Dead

Chapter 7 – Paths

By Bhamv

*****

Culkin Spiriter regained his consciousness slowly but steadily, gradually becoming aware of his surroundings.  The first thing that came back to him was the pain, searing pain everywhere in his body.  His right lung felt punctured, and every breath was agony, while the places on his abdomen and legs where he had been stabbed by the branches of that tree were throbbing with hurt.  Forcing his eyelids open, he gazed up at the full white moon surrounded by black sky, his eyesight hazy due to blood loss.  Slowly lifting his head he realized a giant body, a body with possessing a pair of gigantic wings, was covering him and pinning him down.  

Slowly his mind registered the fact that it was the remains of Hangedman atop him.  The black-colored manbat was dead, a neat bullet hole over where its heart was located.  Its reddish-purple ichor mixed with Culkin's own dark red blood, staining the soil beneath them.  

"How long… how long have I been unconscious?"  Culkin thought to himself.  He tried to lift the body of Hangedman off of him, but as soon as he moved his right arm pain lanced through the arm and shoulder, making him squeeze his eyes shut in torture.  Opening his lids again, he turned his head to inspect his ruined shoulder, where Hangedman had grabbed and lifted him earlier that day.  Several large wounds were located on his upper arm and shoulder, some deep enough to see bone.  It was unlikely he would ever be able to use the arm again.  

Pulling his left arm free instead, he grabbed Hangedman around its wing and heaved as hard as his failing strength allowed him to, barely managing to lift the dead weight off.  Pushing the corpse to one side, he shoved it as far away from himself as possible with his booted foot.  He then shut his eyes and laid flat on the ground panting, exhausted by even that simple task.  

His own tortured breath masked the sound of flapping wings until they were very close, almost right on top of him.  Culkin's eyes flew open in disbelief and looked to his left, confirming the Hangedman he just threw aside was still dead.  Looking straight up again, however, he saw the unmistakable silhouette of a Hangedman-class bio-weapon flying in a circle above the courtyard.  Giving a loud high-pitched laugh, the creature swooped down and hovered over Culkin, the wind from its flapping wings blowing bits of dirt and dust into his eyes.  

Blinking away the intruders beneath his eyelids as best he could, Culkin suddenly felt a pair of talons grab him around his waist, not injuring him severely but cutting deep enough to draw blood.  He gave a gasp of pain then passed out again.  The talons lifted him up in a flapping of wings, jerking his wounded body painfully into the air and over the roof of the mansion.  This second Hangedman flew quickly and steadily, soaring over rooftops until it came across an open duct.  Still carrying its human payload the creature dived into the shaft, flying nearly straight down until it emerged into a large laboratory, with computers and machinery everywhere.  It then spread its wings wide to stop its descent, dropping Culkin onto his side on the metal floor with a loud clang.  

The impact of landing jarred Culkin awake and he gave a low moan.  Forcing his eyes open, he found a pair of human feet before his eyes.  One foot lifted up and pushed him onto his back so he could look upwards.  Blinking the last of the dust from his eyes, Culkin realized he was looking at the face of his employer, Curien.  

"Ahh, excellent!  You're still alive, Spiriter."  Curien said, his lips curling into a malicious smile.  "I had hoped you would be all right… although looking at you now I'm not certain your condition qualifies as 'all right'."  

Curien sneered and turned back to one of the computers, typing a series of commands into the keyboard.  Hangedman, still hovering in the air, gave a wail of acknowledgement and rose upwards, flying back out the passage it had entered from and back into the night.  Curien then pressed a button on another bank of consoles, and several of the machines nearby hummed to life.  

"Now, Spiriter, I am certain you recognize the machines in this room.  After all, you helped to design and build them."  Curien said, slowly turning around to face the man lying prone on the floor.  Culkin slowly turned his head and stared at the machines, his muddled mind unable to process what he saw for several moments.  When he realized what he was seeing though, his eyes went wide with alarm and fear, and he gave a soft squeak.  

"Yes, precicely, Spiriter.  These are the machines that implant the bio-chips into the brains of corpses."  Casually Curien flicked a switch on the machine closest to him, and a conveyer belt rolled to life, moving a cadaver into the machine.  Culkin could not see much from where he laid, but he could hear enough.  There was a loud buzzing sound, like a drill or a saw, and then a series of wet sounds intermingled with periodic humming of the machine.  Less than a minute later the sounds and humming stopped, and a loud crack, like an electric spark, echoed through the lab.  A second conveyer belt rumbled into action, pulling the body out of the other side of the machine.  The body twitched and shook on the belt, before giving a low moan.  It then sat up, and then stood, coming to life before Culkin's very eyes.  

"Beautiful, isn't it?  Sheer brilliance, this thing.  I must say you did well, Spiriter."  Culkin said, walking up to the newly created zombie.  Now that it was erect Culkin could see it used to be a woman, her light brown hair cascading over her shoulders.  The zombie turned towards Culkin and he received another shock, recognizing the face and the three bullet holes in the undead woman's chest.  

"Hmm?  Why the shocked expression, Spiriter?"  Curien asked, looking back at the zombie standing beside him.  "Oh yes, I believe you were acquainted with this girl before she died?  Miss Laura Chevalle, wasn't it?"  

Curien then walked up to Culkin, kneeling down beside him.  "Oh don't look so surprised, Spiriter.  I've been sending Hangedman to harvest bodies for several hours now.  No point letting them go to waste when we have bio-chips to spare, wouldn't you say?"  

He then straightened and walked back to his keyboard, saying, "Now I suppose you're dying to know why I've brought you here, Spiriter, and I'll put you out of your misery and tell you now.  As you no doubt know, I don't enjoy betrayal very much; in fact, I rather abhor it.  Under normal circumstances, someone who has betrayed me has to die.  You fall under this category."

Curien tapped a command into his computer and the Laura zombie jerked, shuffling towards the prone Culkin on the ground.  "However, I found myself with a minor dilemma.  You had provided me with years of dedicated service, with constant devotion to my vision and goal, until that final bit of disloyalty near the end.  And to be honest, I have to say I cannot blame you entirely for your desertion, being aware of what you were up against.  However, a betrayal is still a betrayal, which left me wondering what to do with you, Spiriter."

The zombie stopped when it reached Culkin's side, heaving him onto its shoulder with unnatural strength.  His consciousness fading again, Culkin barely heard Curien's words as he felt himself being carried towards the bloodstained machine Laura had just gone through.  "Well, I'm certain you would delighted to know I came up with a solution.  You're going to die, that much is certain, but I decided to keep you alive for as long as possible.  To grant you life when you should be dead…"

Slowly the implications of Curien's words began to sink in as Culkin was dropped onto the conveyer belt.  "As you know, this device was only meant to work on bodies that were fully dead.  Well, now we shall see what happens when we use one that's only half dead."  Curien said before flicking the switch of the machine again.  The conveyer belt jerked then started rolling, pulling Culkin into the machine.  Culkin was too weak to struggle, too weak to stand up and escape, and could do nothing to stop himself as he was drawn into the monstrous device that made zombies.  And he didn't think he had the energy to scream either, but when he disappeared fully into the horrific machine he changed his mind.  

*****

Chris Redfield led his team through another set of double doors, following the small and simple map in his hand.  Glancing to his right, he double-checked before putting the map away, staring at the door he was at.  Behind him his sister Claire gave a low hmmm, also pondering the large metal portal they had stopped at.  

"So we're supposed to go through here?"  She asked, looking at Chris.  

"That's what the map says."  Chris replied.  

"Let me guess, it's locked."  Came a voice behind both of them, a voice belonging to Leon Kennedy.  

Chris nodded.  "Yep."  

"And we don't have the key?"  Said another voice, this time that of Jill Valentine bringing up the rear of the foursome.  

Chris nodded again.  "Yep."

"All right, get out of the way."  Leon said, drawing his gun and firing at the electronic lock of the door.  The lock remained intact, however, and the bullet ricocheted off with a bright spark.  The three remaining STARS members ducked out of the way of the wayward bullet as quickly as they could, taking cover on the ground.  

"Yikes, don't do that, Leon!"  Claire said, standing back up after making sure there was no further danger.  She then looked around her, spotting a dark plastic rectangle on a console nearby.  Grabbing it, she found her hunch confirmed as it said KEYCARD in red letters on the back.  "Shall we try this?"  

Leon shrugged sheepishly and nodded, stepping back to allow Clare to slide the card along an electronic groove to one side of the door.  With a hiss of expelled gas the two metal panels slid to either side.  Loud zombie moans and growls immediately started coming from the newly accessible area.  Lifting their guns in their hands, the STARS team cautiously filed through the door.  On their left were a series of three cages, each filled with shuffling zombies.  The creatures spotted the foursome walking on the other side of the bars and snarled, charging at them only to be stopped by the cage walls.  Undeterred, they backed up and slammed themselves against the cage again and again, rattling the metal bars ominously.  

"Come on, let's get out of here."  Chris suggested, breaking into a jog to reach the second set of metal doors opposite.  Pushing them open, he led the way through, turning back to make sure his teammates were all right.  He suddenly heard a clicking sound coming from the room they had just vacated, and he looked upwards to find two metallic creatures crawling over the ceiling at them.  They resembled the apes the STARS had fought earlier, but these were covered in gleaming metal armor, until they resembled robots or cyborgs instead of animals.  One of them pointed an arm at Chris and suddenly a three-pronged claw flew out of an opening in the forearm, barely missing his cheek as he ducked to one side.  The two creatures dropped from the ceiling and gave their distinctive screech as they hurled themselves at the STARS.  

Chris raised his gun and fired twice in quick succession, hitting both creatures and throwing them backwards.  They tumbled head over heels several times before landing on their feet, immediately charging forward again, unfazed by the gunshots.  

"Uh oh…"  Jill said, grabbing one of the doors while Chris pulled on the other.  They shut the heavy metal doors just as before the creatures leapt up at them, closing them against the armored chimps' attacks.  Through the thick panels they could still hear the screeching of the monkeys and the clicking of their armor and claws, and in unison the four STARS members backed away from the door.  

"Looks like they've been making improvements."  Quipped Claire.  She jumped in surprise when there was a loud bang against the doors.  "We'd better get going."

Chris whirled around and led the way across their new surroundings, stopping at two sets of elevators at the opposite side of the large round room.  One of the elevators appeared to be broken, so he cautiously pressed the button beside the operational one.  A low hum emanated from the elevator shaft, stopping abruptly when the doors of the lift slid open.  

"Well, I guess we go through it now."  Chris said, glancing back at his teammates.  They nodded and followed him into the darkness of the elevator car, further into the unknowns of the house of the dead.  

*****

Two paths taken, and yet will their fates remain different?  Anyway, thanks for reading this far, please indulge me with your comments and reviews!  -Bhamv


	8. Armies And Hermits

Disclaimer:  I do not own Resident Evil or House of the Dead. Resident Evil and all RE characters mentioned here are the property of Capcom. House of the Dead and all HOTD characters are the property of Sega. This is a work of crossover fiction designed for entertainment purposes only. 

The House Of The Dead

Chapter 8 – Armies and Hermits

By Bhamv

*****

Chris Redfield, Claire Redfield, Leon Kennedy, and Jill Valentine descended the elevator in silence, listening to the soft hum of the lift as it lowered them further down into the mansion labs.  The door of the elevator was nothing more than a metal grate, so they could see the elevator shaft clearly.  Occasionally they would pass by a floor, but the lift never stopped, carrying them on as if it had a will of its own.  

Leon was starting to get nervous.  "Hey guys, do you think riding this thing was a good idea?  I mean…"  He was interrupted as the elevator suddenly jerked to a stop and the doors slid open with a metallic screech.  Chris glanced around, trying to see if there was any danger, before stepping cautiously out of the elevator car, followed by the rest of the STARS team.  

"Looks all right so far."  Claire said, her gun held ready in her hands.  They had descended into what appeared to be a factory, or some sort of industrial research area.  Large cranes and machinery were located around the place, networked by a system of catwalks and platforms.  The walls and equipment were splattered with the blood of humans and the darker ichor of zombies, and unrecognisable corpses were littered sparsely over the ground.  

"Looks like there was some fighting here too."  Jill said, kneeling beside a lump of stinking flesh.  Whatever it had been before death was no longer possible to determine, and she wrinkled her nose before standing back up.  

"That means there could still be zombies here.  Be caref…"  Chris said, before he was cut off by the now-familiar moans of undead.  "Oh great…"

The moans got closer and closer, intermingled with low growls and the sound of many footsteps.  It sounded like an army of zombies was approaching, and the STARS team looked at each other nervously.  Chris shook his head and said, "No point turning back, we don't know any other way to get to the main computer lab other than through here.  Let's go, and stay alert."

The foursome had scarcely taken two steps before the first of the zombies emerged from around a corner, followed by eight more.  They spied the STARS and growled, lowering their heads and preparing to charge.  

"Spread out!"  Chris shouted, and his team split up in a smooth practiced formation.  Guns drawn, they waited for the first line of zombies to approach closer before unleashing a thunderous volley of pistol fire, killing four immediately.  The remaining creatures slowed briefly as they circled around the bodies of their fallen brethren, giving the STARS time to aim and fire again, destroying a further four.  The final creature halted its charge, standing still before raising its head and giving a loud moan, a cry cut short by Leon putting a volley of bullets through its chest.  

Although the moan from the dead zombie was no longer sounding, other sounds were emerging from all directions, echoing through the large industrial workshop.  "Jeez, that thing was calling for help?  That Curien's one twisted bastard…"  Claire said, twisting around and around, trying to spot where the next attack would come from.  

"Let's keep moving before they get here.  Come on!"  Jill said, a sentiment echoed by her teammates.  They set off on a run across the workshop, their footsteps reverberating on the metal floor as undead growls grew louder.  Suddenly a snarl came from above the STARS team and they spied two zombies standing on an upper platform, holding large red barrels over their heads.  One of them hurled it downwards at the STARS, who scattered and dodged out of the way just in time.  The barrel slammed onto the floor with a deafening clang, denting the metal walkway and cracking the surface of the container.  The other zombie followed up by hurling its barrel at Claire, who was on her back after dodging the first barrel and unable to move fast enough to avoid the second.  She raised her gun and fired at the flying container, halting its momentum enough so that it finally fell short of its target, impacting loudly against the ground.  Jill and Leon pointed their firearms upwards and opened fire, blowing the head off one zombie and killing it outright.  The other zombie was knocked off its perch on the platform, shattering gruesomely when it landed, gore and body parts scattering over the floor.  

By now the sounds of zombies were quite close, and Chris pulled Claire to her feet, gesturing at Leon and Jill.  "Come on, move!"  They ran to the opposite side of the chamber, where another set of elevators awaited.  Slamming his finger into the call button, Leon panted with exertion and adrenaline as the lift seemed to take an eternity to activate.  

"We're not going to make it, the elevator's not going to arrive on time."  Leon shouted, whirling around to face the snarls and moans.  Zombies started appearing, some shuffling slowly at the STARS while others ran at them with murderous intent.  A loud click behind Leon made him whirl back around, and he realized the elevator car had arrived while his back was turned.  "Then again…"

"Come on, get in!"  Claire and Jill shouted in unison, scrambling through the narrow lift doors.  Chris and Leon followed, squeezing into the cramped elevator just as the first of the zombies came within reach of the doors.  Pulling the metal grate shut, Leon slammed the latch shut and stabbed the 'up' button, silently urging the elevator to hurry and lift them to safety.  Distant gears and cables gave a low groan and the car shuddered, finally starting its ascent.  

However, two zombies had already reached the door and stuck their arms through the gaps in the grate, reaching and clawing at the STARS team.  Jill raised her gun and fired at one of the festering hands, her bullet travelling through the palm and all the way up the arm of the zombie, blowing its shoulder apart with a shower of gore and throwing the zombie back.  The elevator continued to lift, pulling the second zombie bodily into the air, up and up until its head smashed against the ceiling of the industrial lab.  With a sickening wet crunching sound the elevator door severed the arms of the zombie, sending the zombie plummeting dozens of feet down and dropping the two limbs onto the floor of the elevator car.  

"Oh wonderful…"  Leon muttered, looking down at the severed arms.  Through the gaps of the metal grating that served as the floor of the elevator box he could see the swarming masses of zombies they had barely managed to evade, possibly up a hundred of them, a groaning and snarling horde of undeads.  Leon shuddered at the vision of the army of bio-weapons, staring until the elevator shaft was engulfed in darkness and he could see no more.  

"I'd say that was a close one…"  Claire said, wiping her brow dramatically.  

"Those zombies were attacking in packs, and were able to communicate with each other."  Chris said, his brow furrowing.  "It looks like the bio-chips in the brains of the zombies do more than just animate them."  

Jill put a soothing hand on Chris's shoulder and was about to say something comforting when the elevator jerked to a stop.  Pulling the door open, Leon led the way out and into another set of labs.  There appeared to be more incubation tubes surrounding a shimmering column in the center of the lab.  The column looked like an energy source, or perhaps it was simply a flashy lighting fixture.  There were two doors in the room, one leading to the elevator they had just vacated, the other a set of metal doors leading away.  Hearing the elevator descend back down to the industrial areas sent a shiver down Leon's spine, and he suddenly got a bad feeling about the incubation tubes they were seeing.  Almost immediately, two tubes on the right side of the room shattered in an explosion of glass and fluid, releasing a pair of silver creatures into the lab.  Two more on the left broke open as well, spewing their screeching contents out too.  A glimpse at the four creatures suggested to Leon that Curien had perfected the use of chimps as a bio-weapon, as these apes were covered from head to toe in a glossy silver coating, showing only their razor-sharp fangs and red eyes.  

Raising his gun at the closest ape, Leon fired once and hit it square in the chest, knocking it onto its back.  The creature immediately leapt back up, however, seemingly unfazed by the attack, and launched itself at Leon with a loud squeal.  Leon fired again, sending it flying back and slamming into the wall, but he knew that wouldn't keep it down for long.  Around him his teammates were firing at the remaining creatures, their bullets pushing the apes back but not injuring them in the least.  Over the sound of gunfire, they nodded at each other and ran to the exit on the left side of the room, pulling open the steel door and slamming it shut behind them.  Through the thin metal they could still hear the screeching of the apes, confirming that the creatures were completely uninjured.  

Chris then turned around, breathing a sigh of relief.  "I think we should be safe from those things for now…"  He stiffened as he looked around their new surroundings.  

"Chris?  What's the matter…"  Leon said, noting the change in Chris.  He turned around as well and his eyes widened as he noted the figure standing at the opposite side of the room.  He was tall, with dark hair and wore a long white coat and sunglasses, and held an old-fashioned wooden walking stick in one hand.  Leon stared for a moment before recognizing the man from the statue he saw earlier.  "Curien!"  He shouted.  

Curien turned around and bolted, running through a doorway beside him.  Leon started to give chase when he heard a moan to his right.  Pivoting rapidly, he received another shock when he recognized the zombie shambling towards him.  

"Culkin?"  Leon said in disbelief.  He then saw another zombie behind him, a woman zombie.  "Laura?  Oh my god…"

He backed away slowly, raising his gun in a trembling hand but not firing, hesitant to squeeze the trigger for some unknown reason.  The zombie that used to be Culkin staggered forward, its blank eyes fixed on the rookie cop before it, while the creature that was once Laura started towards the remaining three STARS.  

"Leon, just shoot him!  He's not Culkin anymore, and she's not Laura!"  Claire shouted, pointing her gun but not firing either.  "Dammit…"  She muttered, before closing her eyes and squeezing the trigger.  The muzzle of her gun spat out a burst of fire and the zombie's head snapped back, a neat round hole in its forehead.  It gave a pitiful high-pitched moan before crumpling to the floor, twitching momentarily then remaining completely still.  

Leon followed her example, taking a deep breath before firing into the forehead of the zombie facing him, executing it neatly and instantly.  Culkin Spiriter finally fell, never to rise again.  

Leon stared down at the corpse of the traitorous researcher for a brief moment before turning back to his teammates.  "Let's go get that guy."  He said, nodding at the doorway Curien had disappeared through.  Striding through, he found himself on a high walkway above a vast pool of fluid.  The catwalk led to a set of huge metal doors on the opposite side of the room, which the STARS team approached cautiously and silently.  Signalling to his team, Chris kicked the doors open and pointed his gun inside in a smooth practiced motion.  

Curien stood in the center of a large room filled with greenery.  The walls, floor, and ceiling were covered with plants of every description.  It gave the illusion that Curien was standing in a meadow or a forest, a picture of tranquillity and calm.  

"I must compliment you."  Curien said, a smirk curling his lips.  "I didn't think you could make it this far.  However… this is it!  Let's see how good you really are!"  The smirk turned into a full-blown smile of malice as he pressed a small switch on his cane.  There was a sudden humming sound and a large section of the floor detached and began sinking down, carrying Curien with it.  

"Another elevator?  That sneaky piece of…"  Jill said.  She ran forward but skidded to a stop when a massive creature dropped down before her.  The beast had been released from its nest, a wide tube in the center of the ceiling.  It was arachnid-like, with eight long legs tipped with three pointed talons each, and a white chitinous exoskeleton covered its body.  Its tiny, ugly head was covered with black eyes, staring at Jill with an unnerving stillness only bugs can muster.  The creature was enormous, its legs over ten feet in length and a foot in diameter, its body nearly twenty feet long.  

"Err, Chris?  Claire?  What is this thing?"  Jill asked while backing away slowly.  Claire pulled out Sophie's notebook and flipped through it frantically, finally coming to the page she was looking for.  

"Hermit.  It's called Hermit.  Its hard body is impervious to our attacks, we have to go for its head!"  Claire said, gesturing with her gun.  "And I think we'll have to kill it if we want to go after Curien."

Suddenly Hermit slumped backwards and slipped down the shaft that Curien had disappeared into, supporting itself by clinging onto the sides of the shaft with its sharp claws.  Only six of its legs were needed to support its weight, while the creature held its front two legs in the air, again completely still.  The STARS, with Jill in the fore, crept slowly towards the shaft, their eyes never leaving the giant spider before them.  All of a sudden there was a blur of motion and Jill cried out in pain, a long gash tearing her uniform and cutting her left shoulder.  Chris's eyes widened as he realized that Hermit had attacked with one of its foreclaws, a move so fast that the STARS had no time to see it much less dodge it.  

"Fire!  Drive it back!"  Leon yelled, raising his gun and opening fire at the head of Hermit.  His bullets struck the giant spider in the eye, causing it to lose its grip along the vertical walls, sliding down several yards.  It then regained its hold on the sides of the shaft and slowly began climbing upwards with six feet, its front limbs held ready for attack again.  

But the STARS were ready this time, opening fire at the head of the creature.  Some bullets hit, but most missed, as the jerking gait of Hermit's climb made it hard to aim.  But what bullets they managed to put on target forced the creature back, never allowing it to come within striking range.  One final bullet from Claire slammed into the arachnoid's head and it slumped down to the bottom of the shaft, fifty feet below the chamber the STARS team were in.  The massive spider twitched twice and lay still, before stirring again and crawling down a tunnel perpendicular to the lift shaft the foursome were staring down.  

"Do you think it's gone?"  Jill asked, holding the wound on her shoulder.  Chris drew his first-aid kit from his backpack and wrapped a hasty bandage over her, halting the bleeding.  

"I doubt it.  Anyway, we have to go down this shaft if we want to catch Curien.  The map Sophie gave us leads through here as well anyway."  Chris said, peering down the dark tunnel and spying a ladder running down the side.  He turned back to Jill.  "Can you climb?"

"I'll manage, let's go."  Jill replied, lowering herself onto the ladder and slowly climbing down.  Chris followed, with Claire climbing down after him and Leon bringing up the rear.  Slowly they proceeded downwards until they stood at the bottom, gazing down the dark tunnel that Hermit had disappeared into.  They spied the hulking form of the beast easily, its white carapace readily visible in the dim light.  The head of the monster was facing away from them, its hindquarters pointed at the STARS, its eight legs splayed out and supporting its weight.  There was a soft gurgling sound from the abdomen of the mutant spider, and suddenly a globule of white web fluid flew from the spinneret at the tip of the bulbous body, flying at the STARS team members.  The liquid hardened in the air during its journey, becoming a very large, round, and deadly projectile.  Ducking out of the way, all four STARS members managed to evade the web ball, which slammed into the side of the shaft behind them with a loud bang.  

"Damn!  We can't hit its head if it doesn't turn around!"  Leon yelled, looking around for another option.  Out of the corner of his eye he suddenly spied Claire creeping along the base of the tunnel, sliding on her belly at Hermit.  "Claire!  What are you doing?"  Leon shouted.  

"Keep that thing occupied, I can kill it!"  She said in a hoarse whisper over her shoulder before turning back and crawling as fast and as quietly as she could.  Leon looked back at his teammates and nodded, firing shots at the exoskeleton of Hermit's legs and body.  The bullets rebounded off harmlessly and struck the metal walls of the tunnel with bright sparks, but ensured Hermit did not turn around and expose its head.  The arachnid bio-weapon returned fire with globs of web, trying to slam the hard spheres into its three human opponents.  

Claire crawled until she found herself directly underneath the body of Hermit, with its grotesque head merely a few feet away.  The many eyes of Hermit spied the girl underneath it and the creature froze.  Claire raised her gun and pointed it upwards, just as Hermit started to move, to get out of danger's way; but it was too late for the monster as Claire opened fire from nearly point-blank range, emptying her clip into the soft flesh of the head of the bio-weapon.  Many of its eyes burst apart under the shower of bullets, red ichor splashing out onto the walls of the tunnel.  Hermit gave a low groaning sound and its legs started to buckle, threatening to crush Claire under its massive frame.  Rolling to her feet, she scrambled out of the way just in time, dodging from under the crumpling spider creature.  The giant monster finally collapsed onto the metal base of the tunnel with a loud crash, sending vibrations through the walls of the shaft.  

Dusting herself off, Claire grinned and reloaded her gun while her teammates approached, their facial expressions showing how impressed they were.  "Good work, Sis."  Chris said, smiling.  

"Thanks.  Now let's go after Curien.  He's got a lot to answer for."  Claire replied, leading the way down the long tunnel.  Reaching the end, she found the only way was to jump down to the walkway beneath, and duly jumped, muttering, "OK, Curien… now it's your turn."

*****

They're almost there!  The end of their quest is approaching, let's hope our heroes make it!  Anyway, thanks for reading this far, please review and comment a lot!  I'd really appreciate it!  -Bhamv


	9. Familiarity And Contempt

Disclaimer:  I do not own Resident Evil or House of the Dead. Resident Evil and all RE characters mentioned here are the property of Capcom. House of the Dead and all HOTD characters are the property of Sega. This is a work of crossover fiction designed for entertainment purposes only. 

The House Of The Dead

Chapter 9 – Familiarity and Contempt

By Bhamv

*****

Curien swore softly to himself as he ran down the passages to his computer lab.  Those meddling cops were too close, far too close to the heart of his operations.  Panting with exertion as he burst through the heavy doors of the central computer lab, he stumbled to his console and tapped out a series of frantic commands.  In the distance he heard a hum and a screech of acknowledgement as his final lines of defense readied themselves.  

Pivoting around on one heel, he stared at the large upraised pedestal in the center of the room again.  The black pulsating figure was as still as it was when he left, like an ominous statue, surrounded by a network of large rotating rings.  Nodding to himself, he turned back to the keyboard and typed out another command with trembling fingers.  His hand hovered over the 'Enter' key, savoring the moment before putting his hand down again.  It would be more dramatic, more fun if he activated that command while those troublesome pests were in the lab, able to witness the beginning of their demise.  And despite the difficult situation he was now in, Curien managed an evil grin.  

Claire Redfield leapt from the end of the tunnel down to the steel walkway five feet beneath, her boots clanging loudly against the metal as she landed.  Behind her, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Leon Kennedy leapt down one by one.  

"We're almost there.  Just a bit more and we'll be at the central computer lab."  Claire said, studying the map in her hand.  Memorizing the route that needed to be taken, she slipped the slip of paper into her pocket and readied her gun again.  Checking the ammunition in her backpack, she frowned as she noticed how few bullets she had left.  

"My ammo's running low."  She said to her teammates.  

"Same here, Claire."  Jill said, checking her own backpack.  Pulling out another clip she reloaded her pistol.  "I guess we'll just have to keep going until we run out of bullets."

Chris nodded grimly, then looked around their surroundings.  They appeared to be deep underground, in a cave surrounded by a type of black-colored stone.  Light came from unknown sources, illuminating the walls and the scattered pieces of machinery nearby.  The large metal cubes hummed, still operating like normal, as if nothing was wrong, like there wasn't an infestation of zombies and other bio-weapons in the mansion lab.  Over the drone of the machines they could hear other unidentifiable sounds, noises that made all four STARS members grip their guns tighter in readiness.  

Leading the way down the passage, Chris was the first to spot two zombies shambling towards them, arms outstretched and teeth exposed.  Pointing his pistol, he fired two quick shots, executing the creatures with bullets through the brain, a task he now found easy and intuitive from fighting through the mansion.  Two more zombies growled from the room to their right, also quickly dealt with by two shots from his teammates behind him.  

Leon strode into the room, which was completely bare except for a strange console and a set of metal doors on the left hand wall.  There was also a large window, overlooking a strange shimmering crystal that pulsed and crackled with energy.  Shaking his head, Leon turned back to the console, deciding to concentrate on something he might be able to understand rather than the crystal.  The device he faced appeared to be a locking mechanism for the door, which Claire and Chris were trying to force open at the moment, without much luck.  Leon tapped a few keys on the keyboard, without much response from the door, before deciding to try another method and raised his firearm.  Launching two shots into the console, he shattered the keyboard and sent sparks flying, making the device shake with each shot.  Suddenly there was a hiss of gas and the door slid open, to the surprise of the Redfield siblings, and a weak mechanical voice emerged from the ruined door control mechanism.  "Unlocked."

Grinning at Jill, who had been watching his progress behind him, Leon strode through the door he managed to open, and was nearly decapitated by a massive green axe.  

"Woah!"  He screamed as he ducked just in time, glancing up only to see the giant axe come at him again, this time in a vicious vertical strike.  Rolling to one side, he dodged out of the way again as the sound of pistol fire began echoing around the caverns.  

"It's another Chariot, Leon!"  Claire shouted at her prone boyfriend.  

"Remember, go for its chest!"  Chris yelled, firing two shots into the bright red spot on the chest of the giant knight.  Leon scrambled to his feet and stared at the familiar figure before him, an exact replica of the armored bio-weapon they had fought earlier that day.  Its axe was unstained and its armor looked fresher, but it was unmistakably a Chariot bio-weapon.  

Raising his gun, Leon added his fire to that of his teammates, driving the titan back against the wall of the caverns.  It was helpless against the onslaught of gunfire, as it dropped is axe onto the floor with a loud clang, followed by pieces of its armor plating as more and more fluid leaked out of its ruined chest.  Vulnerable pink flesh began to emerge from behind the metal sheathing, which the STARS team took full advantage of, launching their bullets into the soft tissue of the huge creature.  It fell to one knee with a thunderous sound, the impact sending its helmet with the cylinder-shaped mask flying, exposing its ugly skeletal head.  Reloading his pistol with a fresh clip, Leon blasted a volley of shots into the skull of the creature, knocking it onto its back.  Chariot gave a pitiful moan and twitched briefly before it laid still, overwhelmed and destroyed by the four brave fighters standing before it.  

Jill walked up to the fallen giant, aiming her gun down at its horizontal figure in case it wasn't completely dead.  She then nodded at her teammates and pointed at another door, leading away from the chamber where Chariot had prepared its ambush.  Pressing a button by the doorway, the metal panels slid upwards and disappeared into the walls of the cave, allowing the STARS team to pass through.  

The foursome found themselves on a high walkway along the wall of the cave, overlooking a massive cavern full of stalagmites and stalactites.  The cave was dark, illuminated by only a few lights here and there on the walls.  There was a steady rhythmic sound of wind, a resonating whoosh that sounded oddly familiar to the STARS members, but they could not identify it immediately.  Sudden high-pitched laugh sounded, one that reverberated through the large chamber, resonating eerily and sending shivers up and down four human spines.  Looking up they spied the black figure of the second Hangedman bio-weapon hovering in the air, partially hidden by the darkness and by the stone formations on the ceiling.  

Its large translucent wings beat slowly and steadily, creating the sound of air that had been heard earlier, simply watching idly for a moment.  Then a familiar screeching, grating to the nerves, erupted from Hangedman, which combined with the screeching of hundreds of other creatures.  Bats swarmed from their hiding places in the cavern, from alcoves and niches, joining the gigantic manbat in the air, circling around it and enveloping it in a black cloud of wings and fur.  Not hesitating, all four STARS members raised their guns and fired, emptying their magazines into the swarming mass of bats, knocking several out of the air and sending them plummeting down into the dark depths of the cave.  

There was then a lull in gunfire as four sets of hands reached back into their bags to reload, a gap that Hangedman took advantage of by giving a low wail, ordering a group of bats to attack.  Dozens of the flying mammals split from the main flock and soared down, screeching and flapping, sending the STARS members scrambling for cover from their sharp fangs.  

"Dammit!"  Chris shouted as he ran along the walkway, finishing the reloading of his gun.  He dropped down and rolled over his shoulder, causing the bats that were in pursuit to miss and fly past him.  Pulling himself up into a kneeling position on one knee, he aimed at the mass of bats hiding Hangedman and fired again and again, hoping for a lucky shot.  Cursing as his clip clicked empty again, he shouted at his teammates, "Guys!  Take it down!"

"Got it!"  Yelled Claire, pointing her newly reloaded gun at the creature while Leon did the same from another angle.  Both muzzles blasted fire at the same time, one bullet striking another bat out of the air but the other hitting Hangedman in the wing, near the junction between wing and body.  The flying creature jerked back and its constant wailing was interrupted, causing the flock of bats to scatter and vanish back into the shadows from whence they came.  Hangedman recovered its composure and gave an angry squeal, circling rapidly in the air a few times before folding its wings and diving down at Chris, who was still trying to reload as fast as he could.  

"Watch out Chris!"  Yelled his teammates as Chris slammed his clip as fast as he could into his gun.  Aiming his pistol he fired as quickly as he could, a single bullet striking Hangedman between the eyes, piercing its skull and smashing into its brain.  The creature's head snapped back and it fell backwards, tumbling head over heels until it fell atop a stalagmite, the stone spike piercing it through the chest.  The defeated bio-weapon laid still, a plaintive wail of death rising from the floor of the caverns, which echoed briefly before fading into nothingness.  

Chris took several deep breaths to calm his racing heart as his teammates jogged slowly along the metal walkway, glancing down at the dead figure of Hangedman down beneath.  Nodding his head, Chris gestured at the door at the end of the walkway, and said, "Ok, let's keep going.  Stay alert though."

The doorway led to a short hallway, illuminated by an eerie blue glow.  Glancing on either side, Leon saw the hallway was lined with alcoves, each alcove shimmering with an energy bolt running from ceiling to floor.  The blue lightning hummed with power, making Leon wonder if it had anything to do with the shimmering crystal he saw earlier.  Shaking his head, he focused on the wide door at the end of the passage, sensing they were at the end of their quest.  

The doors slid open automatically as the STARS team walked near, revealing the central computer lab, an area hidden deep in the mansions.  It was the place they had been seeking all along.  The room was huge and circular, with a large humming bank of computers along a length of the curved wall, and in the center of the room was a high pedestal, where a black humanoid figure stood, still as a sculpture.  At the far end of the room there was a simple console, with a few monitors and a keyboard.  And before the console stood the unmistakable figure of Curien, dressed in his white overcoat and sunglasses.  

The four STARS members sprinted the length of the room, arranging themselves in a semicircle around Curien, surrounding him to prevent any escape.  Curien merely smirked.  

"I must admit, I really respect your consistency."  Curien said, his voice deep and calm.  "But you will never, ever defeat me!  Say hello to my masterpiece!"  

The mad scientist reached behind him and pressed a key on his keyboard, and a series of diagrams flickered onto a screen.  There was an almighty humming sound behind the STARS members and they whirled around in surprise.  The noise was that of the rings that rotated around the still figure slowing and lowering, freeing the thing inside.  It remained still for a few more moments until it raised it head, its still black eyes gazing at the five people before it.  It then lifted one hand up to its chest, and spoke.  

"WHO ARE YOU?"  The thing said, its loud mechanical voice reverberating around the chamber.  "NOBODY GIVES ME INSTRUCTIONS.  I SHALL DESTROY EVERYTHING!"  

The hand held in front of its chest suddenly started glowing orange, and before the eyes of the astounded humans in the room a large bright ball of energy formed in the hand of the creature.  The orange fireball then shot across the room at the STARS team, who scrambled out of the way just in time.  Curien was not as lucky however, and was struck and engulfed by the ball of energy, thrown backwards and smashed into the console behind him.  The keyboard and monitors shattered under the impact, sending shards flying into the air and leaving a massive dent in the metal of the control panel.  Curien then collapsed down to the floor, his eyes visible under his shattered sunglasses, wide with shock.  

"What happened?  Why won't you follow… my instructions…"  He said in a hoarse whisper, before slumping down completely, dead.  His clothing and skin were burnt in several places by the fireball, and the stench of charred flesh emanated from his ruined body.  

"No!"  Screamed Leon, as the sight brought back a painful memory to him, the memory of Ada being hurled by one of Umbrella's creatures into a control console, ruining the console and killing her.  It was a memory he had tried so hard to forget, a memory so unforgettable at the same time.  

"Leon!  What's the matter?"  Chris asked, hurrying to the side of his stricken teammate.  Leon said nothing and merely stared at the body of Curien, as if in a trance.  Claire and Jill walked up to Leon as well, shaking him softly.  Leon gave a small jolt and shook his head.  

"Huh?  What?  Oh… it's nothing.  Nothing.  I'm ok."  He said, glancing at Claire a bit guiltily.  Claire wondered what was wrong and resolved to ask at a later time.  There was a loud and abrupt explosion behind them, and they whirled around to find the black figure had vanished from the pedestal.  One wall of the room had been completely shattered, however, destroyed by a massive force.  A cold wind blew in through the gap in the walls, and the dawning sunshine was visible.  

Chris looked back at Leon.  "Are you sure you're all right?"  

Leon nodded.  "I'm fine, really."

"All right.  Let's go finish this then."  Chris said, his brow furrowing in determination.  Quickly but cautiously he led the way through the huge hole in the wall, outside to face the creature that Curien had fallen to.    

*****

Woo woo!  Go team!!!  Do please tell me what you great readers think, ok?  -Bhamv


	10. Magician

Disclaimer:  I do not own Resident Evil or House of the Dead.  Resident Evil and all RE characters mentioned here are the property of Capcom.  House of the Dead and all HOTD characters are the property of Sega.  This is a work of crossover fiction designed for entertainment purposes only.  

The House of the Dead

Chapter 10 - Magician

By Bhamv

Message from the author:  Whew, it's finally completed!  I've been up to my eyeballs studying for exams, but I decided to procrastinate some more and complete this story.  

*****

Chris Redfield strode through the huge gap in the wall, sidestepping the chunks of building material that had been blasted out of the structure and now laid scattered over the metal floor.  Glancing to one side, he noted that the wall had been made of concrete and reinforced with layers of steel, over three feet thick in total; and yet the matte-black creature had broken – rather, shattered – it without any trouble.  The hole in the wall led to a wide flat rooftop, made of concrete and round in shape.  

Outside, the sky was gradually lightening with dawn, clouds and mists illuminated with the oranges and reds of sunrise.  But like a dark blotch staining the beauty of the skies a humanoid shape levitated in midair, its coloring like night.  The body of the creature was covered partly by pitch-black armor, so dark they seemed to absorb the surrounding light.  Other parts of it were made up of pulsing cables, exposed and giving the creature a slight unfinished appearance.  The cables were also black, but emitted a rhythmic red glow, throbbing with an almost hypnotic pattern.  

Across from it, the four STARS members stood in a row, silently gazing at the still form of the creature floating before them.  Claire Redfield slowly pulled out Sophie's notebook from her pocket, keeping her eyes on the thing, before flipping rapidly through the book of diagrams and notes, looking for a clue on how to defeat the monster before them.  Coming to the last page in the small journal, she finally found a diagram showing the creature.  Her eyes opened wide as she read the very brief inscription beside the diagram.  

"Magician, type 0.  Weaknesses, unknown…"  She said quietly, her voice trembling slightly, betraying her nervousness from the lack of information.  

Beside her, Leon Kennedy spared a glance at the brunette girl, saying, "Unknown?  Oh that's wonderful…"  

"So what do we do now?"  Asked Jill Valentine, staring at the levitating Magician.  Any answer coming her was suddenly cut off when Magician moved, blindingly fast.  It flew to its left, spinning languorously as it shifted position, the slow rotation a sharp contrast to its rapid horizontal movement.  In an instant it had covered twenty meters, pausing just at the edge of the roof, halting just as suddenly as it started and seemingly defying the laws of physics.  Still spinning gently, two glowing orange fireballs started forming in its hands, orbiting in synch with the Magician's rotation.  The spheres of energy grew in size and brightness until they were over two feet in diameter, before abruptly leaving Magician's palms and flying towards the STARS team.  Trails of flame lingered in the path of the globes of power, streaking towards the four young people who scrambled out of the way as fast as they could.  

"Watch out!"  Shouted Chris as he rolled out of the way of the fireballs.  Leaping back to his feet as fast as he could he glanced back at where Magician had been, only to find it had moved again.  Pivoting frantically, he found the black creature behind him, on the opposite end of the roof.  Its hands were glowing orange again, this time creating four balls of energy and flinging one at each human.  

The four STARS members ducked out of the way of the flaming spheres again, the fireballs scorching the concrete of the ground and walls behind them.  Leon and Claire raised their guns first, opening fire upon Magician but missing completely when it spun to one side again, moving so fast only a dark blur was visible.  Two more fireballs formed and flew towards Claire, one after the other.  

Claire threw herself to the ground, barely avoiding the first fireball but placing herself directly in the line of fire for the second.  Glancing up, she realized she wouldn't be able to dodge in time when she felt strong arms wrap around her shoulders, a body rolling over her and pulling her aside.  Pivoting her neck she realized Leon had leapt to her rescue, rolling with her to safety and risking his own life to the fireball in the process.  She gave him a grateful nod, gazing into his dark eyes briefly before clambering to her feet, whirling around to face Magician again.  

By now Chris and Jill had found cover behind the two of the larger pieces of rubble, sniping at the floating Magician whenever the opportunity arose.  Their bullets impacted against the black shell of the creature but did no damage, bouncing off to ricochet noisily against the concrete walls and floor.  Claire and Leon scrambled behind two other shards of the broken wall, firing at the levitating bio-weapon and ducking out of the way when fireballs came their way.  

Suddenly there was a noticeable lull in the fireball attack, and the STARS team peeked out from behind their hiding places to see what Magician was doing.  The black figure was floating in the middle of the rooftop, completely still once more.  

"What's going on?"  Leon said to no one in particular, wondering why Magician was no longer attacking.  As if on cue, another ball of flame grew from Magician's right hand, but this time it did not fly out, instead enveloping the hand until the whole appendage was a glowing orange ball.  Magician then burst into action once more, this time flying directly towards Leon's hiding place in a fast streaking move.  Bringing the ball of energy down on Leon's cover, Magician shattered the concrete block and sent the young cop flying back, unhurt but stunned.  

Leon slammed into the wall, his spine aching from the impact, and coughed as the dust from the smashed block filled his nostrils and obscured his vision.  When he looked back he realized Magician was preparing another fireball in its hand, hovering merely a few feet away from him.  The dust in the air seemed to create a haze around the bright ball of power, giving the situation a slight surreal feel.  Magician's expressionless mask was illuminated eerily from below by its hand, giving the illusion of a grin on its face.  

"It's like I'm being laughed at…"  Leon thought off-handedly, staring as Magician raised its glowing limb, preparing to strike a deathblow over his head.  He closed his eyes and prepared for the end, when suddenly a gunshot rang out and Magician gave a short mechanical grunt.  Immediately the oppressing heat that had been emanating from the ball of energy disappeared, causing Leon to open his eyes in surprise.  The black figure had lost the fireball in its hand, and was clutching at the pulsing cables on its left thigh.  Two of the cables were severed, venting a white gas with a loud hissing sound, sending the dust motes in the air swirling in a chaotic pattern.  

Leaping to his feet, Leon scrambled to his left and wondered briefly who had fired the shot that saved him.  Chris's voice rang out across the rooftop, triumphant and eager, "Go for the wires, team!  That's his weakness!"

By now the gas had stopped spraying from Magician's leg, and the creature straightened up, seemingly healed.  Two fireballs grew quickly from its hands, but they abruptly vanished into thin air when a shot from Leon pierced a cable on its right arm.  A pulse of bright energy seemed to flash across the body of Magician, and the white gas began escaping from the broken tubes.  Magician did not pause this time though, instead launching himself at Chris, fireball growing in hand.  Instinctively Chris ducked low behind his covering chunk of concrete, only peeking his head and gun from over the top.  Waiting for just the right moment, he fired and hit Magician's right shin, making the bio-weapon give another low grunt and stopping it in its tracks.  The creature slowly floated back into the center of the roof, pausing there and seemed to ponder the situation.  

Chris reached into his backpack and was disturbed when he found he had only one clip left for his pistol.  Pushing the last of his bullets into his magazine, he stared at the unmoving form of Magician.  The air was deathly still, not a sound could be heard except the faint breathing of the four STARS members and the low mechanical hum from Magician.  A fireball grew from Magician's hand and began expanding rapidly; but instead of hurling it at the STARS team Magician let go of it, and the globe of energy hovered mysteriously in front of the creature's chest.  It then started to circle around Magician, circling about with an increasingly fast orbit.  Another fireball formed and started to whirl around Magician, and another.  In the blink of an eye over twenty bright orange spheres of flame were looping near the black creature, who was holding its arms out to either side, as if keeping the spheres in check.  It then threw both arms upwards, and the whirling balls of power responded by shooting towards the sky, creating a huge circle of energy in the air.  The fireballs then began to descend, creating a deadly rain that would land in mere seconds.  

"Oh boy…"  Claire whispered, staring slack-jawed at the unusual attack from above.  She then turned back to Magician and realized the only safe place on the rooftop was where Magician was standing – all other places were under risk from the circle of falling fireballs.  Turning to her teammates, she yelled, "Guys!" before charging forward from behind her cover, her pistol spitting a constant stream of bullets.  The other three STARS members understood at once, and ran from behind their respective chunks of concrete.  Gunfire cracked across the rooftop as bolts of hot metal found their target, shredding Magician's pulsing cables and tubes as the STARS team hurled themselves forward in one final gamble.  

All around them, balls of flame began impacting against the concrete of the rooftop, hissing loudly as they landed and leaving dark scorch marks and craters.  But Claire's desperate plan was paying off, as none of the deadly fireballs came close to hitting the STARS team.  Emptying the last of his bullets into Magician's thigh, Leon completely shredded the wiring and structures that held the leg together, making it swing loosely from the floating creature's hip, while his teammates did the same to other exposed parts of the bio-weapon.  Mortally damaged, Magician rose slowly higher and higher, above the heads of the wary STARS members.  Sparks and small explosions flew sporadically from parts of his body, shaking the ravaged form mercilessly.  Slowly extending one quivering hand, the dying bio-weapon spoke in its booming voice.  

"YOU… HAVEN'T… SEEN… ANYTHING… YET!!"

A burst of blue flame then erupted from the chest of Magician, blasting the whole creature apart in an explosion of bright azure power.  Moving as one the four STARS members shielded their faces against the bright light and flying shards, finally lowering their arms when all the pieces of the detonated creature fell to the roof.  

Chris breathed a sigh of relief.  "Come on, we're almost done."  He said, turning to the gap in the wall leading back to the computer lab.  Slowly walking back indoors, he wrinkled his nose as he spied Curien's charred corpse lying before the shattered computer console.  Jill and Leon had already made their way to the control panel, circling around the body of Curien and inspecting the system.  A spark jumped off the ruined keyboard, causing Leon and Jill to jump back in alarm.  They then turned to Chris and Claire.  

"It looks completely destroyed.  When Curien was thrown into the console the force of the impact managed to destroy the whole thing."  Jill reported.  "There's nothing more we need to do now."

Claire strode to the large metal doors of the computer lab and pushed the button on one side, making the doors slide open with a soft hydraulic hiss.  The tunnels leading from the mansion were silent, not filled with the echoes of zombies moaning and growling like they were when the STARS team first arrived at the lab.  Turning to her teammates, she nodded slowly, a smile curling her lips.  Chris, Jill and Leon breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief.  

"It's all over."  Chris said.  "Let's get out of here."  He holstered his now empty pistol and joined Claire at the door.  Turning back, he noticed Leon staring down at the corpse of Curien with an odd expression on his face.  

"Good bye, Curien… Farewell, Sophie."  Leon whispered before jogging across the large computer lab to join his teammates.  Slowly they retraced their steps back through the mansion lab, now completely silent and free from bio-engineered creatures and dying humans.  Many festering zombie corpses were scattered along their route, confirming their success at destroying the central computer.  Countless bodies of white-uniformed scientists were intermixed those corpses though, people the STARS team had failed to protect.  It made their victory seem somewhat hollow. 

The foursome finally made their way back to their black sedan, still parked outside the mansion courtyard, beyond the front gates.  Easing their exhausted bodies through the doors, they sat and rested their weary legs briefly before Chris activated the radio and called for backup.  The crackling voice on the other side of the acknowledged Chris and could be heard barking out orders to people in the background, sending them to the mansion to take over from the STARS team.

"Now let's go, I don't want to be here and get roped into being part of the cleanup crew."  Chris said as he put down the transmitter.  His teammates managed a half-hearted chuckle at his weak joke as he ignited the engine and slowly backed out onto the road, turning the car to face the way home.  In the back seat, Jill craned her neck to take one last look at the mansion, and felt something stiff in her trouser pocket.  Slipping her hand in, she found the photograph she had been given by the dying researcher in the courtyard, right before entering the nightmare of the mansion.  The picture was stained and blurred, from the blood, sewage, and other ravages it had gone through, but the faces in the photo were still recognisable.  

Jill smiled as she realized it was a picture of some of the researchers, dressed mostly in their identical white uniforms.  She spotted Sebastian in the front row, far left, while Jessica and Laura sat on the far right, sporting big grins.  Culkin stood in the center of the back row, with his distinctive smirk, and the dying man who gave her the picture stood beside him.  Jill could not recognize any other faces, except for the man seated in the center of the front row, the central focus of the photograph – Curien, wearing his distinctive sunglasses and coat.  

Jill sighed and folded the picture carefully in half, sliding it back into her pocket.  It would be a reminder of her experiences in the mansion, a memorial to those who went through the house of the dead.

*****

Thanks for reading this far!  And please, comment and review for one last time, please?

-Bhamv


	11. The Typing Of The Dead

Disclaimer:  I do not own Resident Evil or House of the Dead.  Resident Evil and all RE characters mentioned here are the property of Capcom.  House of the Dead and all HOTD characters are the property of Sega.  This is a work of crossover fiction designed for entertainment purposes only.  

The House of the Dead

Bonus Chapter – The typing of the dead

By Bhamv

Message from the author:  This is a short bonus chapter inspired by a review The Metal Cowboy wrote.  Just something I whipped up in a whim.  Please enjoy!

*****

Leon slowly opened his eyes, blinking in the glare of the afternoon sun.  Lifting his pistol warily, he looked around himself to inspect his surroundings.  The stone bridge he stood upon seemed oddly familiar.  In fact, it was very familiar… he was back at the mansion lab, the house of the dead.  

Almost instinctively, he turned to his left, where he saw a zombie lifting a white-clothed researcher into the air, shambling towards the side of the bridge, preparing to throw the man over the railings.  Sebastian, it was Sebastian, just like it was last time.  Leon lifted his gun, the metal hot in his hand, and fired into the chest of the zombie, again and again, until the creature crumbled and fell, freeing the scientist from its grasp.  

"Thank you, oh thank you so much. You've saved my life! I was almost thrown into the sewer system under the bridge there…"  Said the researcher, his face white with shock but etched with thankfulness.  

"Sebastian?  Is that you?"  Leon asked, incredulous.  "What's going on, why am I back at the mansion again?  Where are my teammates?"  

"I… I don't know, officer.  But I can help you again this time."  Sebastian replied, reaching into the inside of his lab coat.  "Here, take this.  It'll help you against the bio-weapons."

Sebastian handed Leon a wide plastic bumpy board, which Leon recognized as a computer keyboard after staring at it for a while.  There were two straps attached to either side of the keyboard, which Sebastian helped Leon secure around his shoulders.  

"What's this?  What on earth is going on?"  Leon asked, staring at the keyboard which now hanging by his abdomen, at a perfect height for typing.  

"It's the newest secret invention I produced, Leon!  It kills zombies!"  Sebastian replied, his voice high-pitched and full of glee.  Leon spared him a glance, and the researcher continued, "It makes words float above zombies, and if you type the word it kills the zombies!  It's true!  Oh, and you won't need this any more…"  Sebastian grabbed Leon's gun out of his hand and hurled it off the side of the bridge, dropping it into the murky sewage underneath with a loud plonk.  

"What?"  Leon yelled.  Suddenly, two zombies appeared in front of Leon, staggering towards him with loud growls, arms outstretched and ready to grab him.  Gasping, Leon backed away slowly, when he noticed the word 'woman' appear over the head of the zombie on the left.  "Well, I guess I don't have much choice…"  He muttered to himself.  Glancing down at the keyboard, he tapped out the word as fast as he could and watched in fascinated satisfaction as the head of the zombie burst apart in a shower of ichor and bone.  The undead creature stopped in its tracks and then fell to the stone of the bridge, twitching slightly.  The glowing red text in the air disappeared, and was replaced by another word which hovered over the head of the second zombie.  

"Antidisestablishmentarinism?  You've gotta be kidding me…"  Leon yelled, looking back down at the keyboard and desperately trying to find the 'A' key.  Tapping away frantically, his fumbling fingers made error after error, while the zombie approached closer and closer, growling with bloodthirsty intent.  It quickly came within reach and ripped the keyboard away from Leon, hurling the device aside and smashing it against the stone of the bridge.  Keys and bits of plastic went flying into the air, scattering all over the place.  The zombie then put both hands around Leon's neck in a tight stranglehold and opened its jaws wide, preparing to deal a deadly bite to the young cop.  

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!"  Leon screamed, bolting upright in bed.  He was covered in sweat and shook uncontrollably.  Lying beside him, Claire woke up and sat up as well, wrapping her arms comfortingly around his well-built body.  

"What is it?  Did you dream about the mansion again, honey?"  She asked in a soothing voice.  

"Yes… and no…"  Leon replied, calming down slightly.  He thought back at his bizarre dream and collapsed back in bed, his head hitting his pillow with a loud poof.  "I'll tell you about it in the morning, Claire… it was rather… strange."  

Claire laid back down beside her beloved and asked, "Strange?  Strange how?"  

"There were zombies… and keyboards… and typing on the keyboards killed the zombies… and there was antidisestablishmentarinism."  Leon mumbled, drifting back to a peaceful, dreamless sleep.  Claire laid awake for a while though, now worried about the sanity of her boyfriend.  

*****

Thanks for reading this far!  And a special thanks to all my wonderful reviewers – your reviews kept me going.  Wesker, The Metal Cowboy, Matt, Necromancer 13, and of course Razor Osaka/Blademaster Kien/whatever your current username is.  ;-)

Thanks a lot guys!  Couldn't have done it without you.  -Bhamv


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